THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
f/)
52k I
COPYRIGHT, 1901,
IN THE UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN,
Bv J. S. EASBY-SMITH
All rigbtt reserved*
" * 1.974
J
TO THE MEMORY OF
JOSEPH SEBASTIAN ROGERS
BORN l8TH MARCH 1 8 70
DIED 20TH AUGUST 1898
PREFACE
IN this work I have attempted what has not
yet been done for Alcaeus, and what Mr. Whar-
ton so ably did for Sappho ; that is, to give him
in the entirety of his remains to English readers,
whether they understand Greek or not, and at
the same time to give to the student an accurate
text in a convenient form. Though much has
been written of him in connection with the
other Greek lyrists by English, German, and
other scholars, the notes and occasional trans-
lations are in Latin, German, or other tongue;
and practically the only form in which he is at
all available to the English student is Professor
FarnelPs excellent work on the Greek Lyric
Poets ; though Professor Herbert Weir Smyth,
of Bryn Mawr, has in press a work on the Greek
Lyrists. Even in Professor Farneirs work the
remarks on Alcaeus are necessarily limited, and
while the notes are in English, there are no
translations; and the work is intended for the
vii
PREFACE
student alone, being of little value to the general
reader. It is true that there have been pub-
lished more or less extended criticisms of Al-
caeus, and occasional translations of some of the
fragments, in works upon the Greek Lyric Poets
in general, but these have never been collected.
I have given here a life of Alcaeus, the longer
fragments with verse translations, the shorter
fragments with prose translations, notes upon
the fragments, and a bibliography.
In the Life, while narrating everything con-
cerning him that could be gathered from ancient
authors and deduced from his writings, I have
confined myself to that only which is well au-
thenticated, and have refrained from relating
probabilities or possibilities as facts. I have
necessarily included some remarks upon his
times, upon his contemporaries, upon the Aeolic
or Lesbian school of poetry, upon Horace and
his debt to Alcaeus, and upon Catullus; and
also some critical notes upon his poetry.
In the text I have closely followed Bergk,
with a few exceptions mentioned in the notes,
where I have followed Hartung, Farnell, or
Hoffmann, and have included every fragment
which can properly be ascribed to Alcaeus,
omitting only single words and broken sen-
tences incapable of restoration or translation,
viii
PREFACE
and of value only to the lexicographer. The
numbers included in brackets (in the notes) are
Bergk's, except where otherwise noted. I have
followed the usual custom of grouping the frag-
ments according to subject, giving, first, Drink-
ing-songs ; second, Love-songs ; third, Polemics ;
fourth, Hymns ; and fifth, Miscellaneous.
In the metrical translations I have striven to
adhere closely to the original, availing myself as
little as possible of the liberties generally sup-
posed to belong to the translator into verse, with
the exception of the paraphrases, " Autumn,"
"To Sappho," and "No More for Lycus,"
and even in these I have endeavoured to be
historically and critically true to the poet. With
the shorter fragments I have given literal prose
translations. I must here confess that my ren-
derings of some of these shorter fragments are
not altogether satisfactory to myself, for many
of them are practically incapable of translation.
In each of the notes on the longer fragments
I have given a literal prose translation, such
meritorious verse translations by various authors
as I have found, a reference to the place of
preservation of the fragment, a description of
the metre, references to other authors of an-
tiquity, especially to Horace, and such remarks
as may tend to the elucidation and understand-
PREFACE
ing of the fragment. The notes on the shorter
fragments are briefer. I have not attempted
any textual or metrical criticism, leaving that to
more able scholars ; and I would here invite the
critical student to the great work of Bergk,
the ablest Greek scholar of the century, and to
the works of Matthiae, Hartung, Farnell, Hoff-
mann, and others mentioned in the bibliography.
Professor Farnell's work will be found of especial
value to the student, containing not only the
text with valuable notes, but also a treatise upon
the Aeolic dialect and upon metre in the lyric
poets. The main difficulties to be experienced
by the student lie in the peculiarities of the
Aeolic dialect and its admixture with other
forms, and in the broken and disconnected con-
dition of some of the fragments.
In the bibliography will be found a complete
list of the principal works upon or relating to Al-
caeus, to which I have had reference or access.
Some remarks here concerning the literature
of Alcaeus may be of interest. He was held
in such high esteem by the ancients that many
commentaries were written on his poems. Athe-
naeus and others relate that Dicaearchus and
Chamaeleon, the disciples of Aristotle, wrote on
Alcaeus ; Hephaestion says that Aristophanes,
the celebrated grammarian of Byzantium, who
PREFACE
flourished about the middle of the third century
B.C., and his more famous pupil, the Alexandrian
critic Aristarchus, wrote elaborate commenta-
ries on Alcaeus and divided his poems into ten
books ; according to Strabo, Callias, the Mity-
lenean, taught and wrote upon the works of
Alcaeus about 25 B.C. ; Suidas says that Draco,
the grammarian, who flourished under Hadrian,
and Horapollo, the grammarian of Constan-
tinople and Alexandria, who flourished about
400 A.D., wrote commentaries on Alcaeus. The
first modern publication of any part of Alcaeus
was in the Gnomologiae sive Arhtologlae Pindaricae
of Michael Neander, a Greek and Latin edition
of fragments from the nine lyric poets, printed
at Basle in 1556. This was followed by the
editions of the lyric poets by Henricus Stepha-
nus, published in Paris in 1560 and subsequent
years. Fulvius Ursinus published at Antwerp,
in 1568, a fuller collection of the fragments of
Alcaeus, with a commentary, in his Carmlna
Novem Illustrium Feminarum . . . et Lyrlcorum.
The first separate edition of Alcaeus was the
Commentatio de Alcaeo, Poeta Lyrlca Ejusque Frag-
mentis of Christian David Jani, published at
Halle in 1780. This work is in Latin, and
consists of a most excellent life and criticism
of the poet, with the text of the principal frag-
xi
PREFACE
ments preserved in Athenaeus, that is, part of
our fragment iii and fragments viii, x, xix, xxvi,
and xxxviii, with full notes. This edition was
reprinted by T. F. Stange at Halle, in 1810, in
his edition of Alcaeus, which consists of reprints
from various sources and a collection of other
fragments and mentions of Alcaeus by ancient
authors. The next (and, so far as I have been
able to find, the latest) work treating of Alcaeus
alone is the Alcaei Mytilenaei Reliquiae of August
Matthiae, Leipzig, 1827. This is the most
important work on Alcaeus except Bergk's, and
contains a hundred and twenty-eight fragments
(counting single words), with full notes in Latin,
and an appreciative biography of the poet. Al-
caeus, together with the other Greek lyrists, has
been edited by many scholars of this century,
preeminent among whom is the late Theodore
Bergk, who, in treating Alcaeus, makes Mat-
thiae's work the basis of his own.
Of the other Greeks who bore the name
Alcaeus it is necessary to mention only those
the fragments of whose writings have sometimes
improperly been ascribed to our poet. These
are Alcaeus, the Athenian tragic poet, who
lived about 308 B.C.; Alcaeus, the comic poet,
probably identical with the foregoing ; Alcaeus,
the epigrammatist, the contemporary of Philip
PREFACE
of Macedon; and Alcaeus, the epigrammatist,
who lived under the Emperor Titus.
A probably authentic Lesbian coin has been
preserved, bearing upon the obverse AAKAIO2
MTTIA. and a profile head of Alcaeus, and upon
the reverse IUTTAKO2 and a profile head of
Pittacus. This coin is said to have belonged
to Fulvius Ursinus. It passed through various
hands and collections into the Royal Museum
at Paris, and was engraved by the Cheva-
lier Visconti.1 The frontispiece of this work,
the medallion head of Alcaeus, reproduced in
photogravure, was drawn, after Visconti, by
Mr. Howard Sill of Baltimore, who has also
designed the cover.
Reviewing my finished work, particularly the
metrical renderings, I feel more deeply than
ever how impossible it is to know the Greek
poets truly and intimately outside the original,
to express in any other tongue the fervour, the
incomparable beauty of language and rhythm,
and the exquisite turns of thought intrinsic to
the Greek songs, or to give more than their bald
sense. Yet am I upheld in my work by the
belief that to have these songs at second hand
1 Iconographie Grecque / par / Le Chevalier E. Q. Vis-
conti/Membre de PInstitut de France./Paris./MDCCCvm./
Vol. /, Plate Hi, No. 3.
xiii
PREFACE
is better than not to have them at all, and by
the hope that it may further the study of Alcaeus
and of the other Greek lyrists, — a study which
is too much neglected, even in our colleges.
J. S. EASBY-SMITH.
WASHINGTON, 9th May, 1900.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE ...... vii
LIFE OF ALCAEUS 3
LONGER FRAGMENTS:
Drinking Songs . . . .44
Love Songs 56
Polemic Songs . . . .62
Hymns . . . . .78
Miscellaneous Songs . . .84
SHORTER FRAGMENTS . . . -99
NOTES . . . . . . • ii?
BIBLIOGRAPHY 145
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
ALTHOUGH twenty-five centuries have passed
since he lived and sang, we have comparatively
much authentic information concerning Alcaeus.
Because he was not only a great poet but also
a traveller, a soldier, a bitter partisan of the
noble order, and a disturbing factor in the po-
litical affairs of Mitylene, we have many details
of his life which otherwise would never have
been recorded ; and adding to this the frequent
personal references occurring in the surviving
fragments of his poems, we are able to form a
tolerably accurate idea of his life and career.
Born in the latter part of the seventh century
B.C., probably about the year 630, Alcaeus was
contemporary with Pittacus, Dictator of Mity-
lene and one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece,
and with Sappho, but was younger than either
of them. There is no record of his parentage,
but it is certain that he sprang from the old
Lesbian nobility, and that Cicis and Antimeni-
das were his brothers.
The close of the seventh century B.C. was a
3
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
time of wild political commotion and great in-
tellectual activity throughout Greece, and espe-
cially in the Island of Lesbos. Mitylene, the
principal city of the island, having conquered
her ancient enemy Methymna, was mistress of
Lesbos, but was rent by internal dissensions
and was at war with Athens, who had seized
upon some of the Lesbian colonies in the Troad.
Mitylene was rich and famous and powerful.
She had built a strong navy and planted colo-
nies on the Asiatic coast in order to secure and
hold the trade of the Hellespont, and had ex-
tended her commerce to the uttermost east and
west. Succeeding to the simple, patriarchal life
and customs depicted in the Homeric poems
came a period of beauty, splendour, and luxury,
ever tempered by the exquisite Greek refine-
ment. The rich and splendid jewelry, armour,
and household trappings, and the loose and in-
dulgent customs of the East, were all repro-
duced in Lesbos ; not, indeed, in the gorgeous
and barbaric and dissolute manner of the East,
but with that consummate art of expression and
repression which was the distinguishing charac-
teristic of the Greek nature in the day of its
highest development. Meanwhile, to the early
rule of the hero-princes had succeeded an he-
reditary monarchy, to be in its turn overthrown
4
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
by an oligarchy which gradually drifted into an
aristocracy or rule of the nobles, certainly the
most aesthetic, if not the most practical or logi-
cal, form of government. But during the later
years of the aristocracy, frequent feuds among
the various noble families striving for suprem-
acy in the state brought about internal wars
and disturbances, which from time to time gave
occasion for ambitious usurpers to seize upon
the supreme power, only to be beaten and put
to death by the reunited nobles. Finally the
people, become more intelligent and powerful,
grew tired of the misrule occasioned by the
bickerings of the aristocrats, and there began
in Mitylene, and throughout all Greece, the
death-struggle between the democracy and the
aristocracy.
During these years of political change and
revolution, Lesbos had become the acknow-
ledged head and centre of the Asiatic Greeks,
not only in material affairs, but also intellectu-
ally. Set as a gem upon the bosom of the soft
Aegean, with beautiful scenery, magnificent har-
bours, and exquisite climate, Lesbos was fair to
behold and sweet to dwell within. Her inhabit-
ants had about them all the delights of nature,
and through extended commerce had become
wealthy and were supplied with all the luxuries
5
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
of the world. All their surroundings tended
to develop to the utmost their intense poetic
natures. They were connected by ancestry and
tradition with the demigods and hero-princes
of epic days, not yet too far removed to exert
a living influence upon their imaginations ; they
were in direct contact with the older countries
of the mainland, and were fired by the stories
of their mariners, and of travellers to the old
eastern countries and to the new and strange
lands of the west. Under such conditions the
Lesbian or Aeolic school of poetry developed
with a rapidity that is only equalled by its in-
tenseness and perfection ; for within the century
wherein Archilochus laid its real foundations, it
reached in the songs of Sappho and Alcaeus that
high point of brilliancy to which it never after-
wards approached. And its decay was as rapid
as its rise ; for although it exerted a strong influ-
ence over melic poetry for more than a century,
and indeed influenced to some extent all lyric
poetry throughout Greece, and though its effects
are to be marked in the lyric poetry of Rome
and of all countries to the present time, yet it
did not survive so long as the less brilliant and
more slowly developing Dorian school, and prac-
tically ceased to exist after the deaths of Sappho
and Alcaeus and their less gifted contemporaries.
6
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
It is impossible to fix a beginning for this
school, or for lyric poetry in general. Whether
it preceded the epic or not, it was probably co-
existent with and rapidly developed after the
decay of the latter. The epic was succeeded
by the elegy, in which the epic metre was
slightly varied, to be in turn followed by iambic,
and later by true melic poetry. The Aeolians
were, poetically, the most highly gifted of all
the early Greek peoples ; for not only do we
probably owe to them the epics, but of the nine
great lyric poets, six were of Aeolic descent.
As has been pointed out, Lesbos, on account
of her wealth and position, became the natural
centre of the older Greek countries of Asia
Minor and of the colonies on the mainland
and adjacent islands. It is possible that a sepa-
rate Aeolic or Lesbian school had begun to exist
as early as the eighth century ; for Terpander,
the earliest melic poet, who introduced lyric
poetry into Sparta about 700 B.C., was a native
of Lesbos; and Archilochus, about 687 B.C.,
speaks of the Lesbian style: —
Himself beginning a Paean in the Lesbian model
This school owes more to Archilochus for its
artistic development than to any other poet, for
1 Atfr&s t!-dpxuv irpbs a&\tn> A^r/Stov wai^ova.
7
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
this mighty innovator of song invented or de-
veloped the iambic, trochaic, choriamb ic, and
perhaps the Alcaic measures. That he was the
poetic master of Sappho and Alcaeus, and con-
sequently of all the melic poets who followed
them, is apparent, even aside from the testimony
of Horace : —
Sappho, whose verse with manly spirit glows,
Even great Alcaeus his 1 iambics chose,
In different stanzas though he forms his lines,
And to a theme more merciful inclines.
— FRANCIS.
The predominance of this school appears not
only from the fact that Terpander and Arion,
the latter a contemporary of Sappho and Alcaeus,
both of whom were Lesbians, and Alcman, a
Lydian who flourished about 670 B.C., were the
first to teach melic poetry to Greece proper, but
also from the fact that nearly all the lyric poets,
from Alcman to Pindar, used the metres in-
vented and perfected by the Lesbians, and em-
ployed, in a greater or less degree, the Aeolic
dialect. Even Theocritus, in three of his idylls,
uses Aeolic metre and dialect; and Anacreon,
though the creator of a separate class of poetry,
was strongly affected by the Lesbians. Sappho
1 That is, Archilochus; Epis. I, 19, 28 teq.
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
boasts of the supremacy of the Lesbian school
in her line : —
Surpassing all, as the Lesbian singer stands
Towering above the singers of other lands.1
The universal acknowledgment of the supe-
riority of the Lesbian school is voiced in the
Orpheus myth. In the legend of the death of
Orpheus it is related that after he was torn in
pieces by the furious Thracian women his head
was thrown into the Hebrus, Alcaeus' "most
beautiful of rivers," and borne to the sea and to
the shores of Lesbos, where it was enshrined.
It is also told how his lyre was borne to Mity-
lene and suspended in the temple of Apollo.
This school was characterised by its use of
the Aeolic dialect, the recurrence to epic forms,
and the use and adaptation of the epic metre ;
by the subjective quality of its songs, by their
monodic form, and by the quality that is termed
scholastic, or suitable for singing at banquets or
on other convivial occasions. Possible excep-
tions to the monodic form and approaches to
choral poetry may exist in the epithalamia of
Sappho, and in the possible paeans of Alcaeus.
Although preeminent in poetry, the Lesbians
were not confined in their intellectual activities
(is 6r* Aoidos 6 A6r/3tos &\\o8diroi<rn>.
(BERGK, No. 91.)
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
to that art. They had become great in the art
of war, both by land and by sea ; in political
thought they were abreast the other Greek
states, and their statesman and lawgiver, Pit-
tacus, was ranked among the Seven Sages.
So at the close of the seventh century we find
the Lesbians rich without ostentation, luxurious
without profligacy, voluptuous without corrup-
tion, unstable politically, yet striving to preserve
a free rule, and acknowledged leaders of art and
thought in Greece. They had not yet entered
upon that period of utter sensuality and political
chaos, described by Anacharsis the Traveller,
which preceded their final debasement and na-
tional enslavement. Indeed, Lesbos was then in
the high noon of her glorious development.
In such times and in such a state Alcaeus
grew to manhood. In 618 B.C., Melanchrus,
who had usurped the supreme power in Mity-
lene, and proclaimed himself Tyrant, was con-
quered and put to death by the nobles, who
were led by Pittacus, and by Cicis and Anti-
menidas, the brothers of Alcaeus. It is prob-
able that Alcaeus was too young to take part in
this fight, and the only reference in his poems
to Melanchrus is in fr. 1, where Melanchrus is
praised, probably as compared with Pittacus or
other later usurpers. A foreign war now served
10
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
to reunite all factions in the city. Athens,
grown jealous of the wealth, commerce, and
naval supremacy of Lesbos, determined to drive
the Mityleneans from the Asiatic coast, and
seized upon Sigeum. Thereupon, about 612
B.C., followed the war between the Mityleneans
and the Athenians, involving not only Sigeum,
but the whole of the Troad. In this war Pitta-
cus led the Mityleneans and Alcaeus took
a prominent part, achieving great renown as a
brave and skilful warrior. In the battle of
Sigeum, though Phrynon, the Athenian com-
mander, was slain by Pittacus in a hand-to-hand
encounter, the Mityleneans were defeated, and
Alcaeus saved his life by flight, leaving his arms
upon the field. Alcaeus sent a poem, fr. xxiii,
to his friend Melanippus, relating his escape.
The bravery of Alcaeus has been questioned by
some modern writers on account of this flight,
but unjustly. The rout was complete, and the
whole Lesbian army fled; the Spartan code was
not taught either in Athens or Mitylene, and if
there had been any disgrace attaching to such a
flight, surely Alcaeus would not have sought to
preserve it in a poem. On the other hand, this
incident did not detract from the ancients' esti-
mate of his courage, and that the Athenians con-
sidered him a worthy foeman is proved by the
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
fact that they held his shield to be a great
trophy and hung it in the temple of Athena, as
is related not only in the poem of Alcaeus, but
in the histories. In all his poems there is no
trace of time-serving or cowardice, and in all
the ancient writers no hint against his bravery
throughout all the conflicts of his troublous life.
Did we need any proof that flight from a hope-
less field was not considered cowardice, we have
only to read the words of Alcaeus' predecessor
and poetic master, Archilochus : —
The f Of man glories in my shield —
I left it on the battle-field;
I threw it down beside the wood,
Unscathed by scars, unstained with blood.
And let him glory ! Since, from death
Escaped, I keep my forfeit breath,
I soon may find, at little cost,
As good a shield as that I lost.1
— J. H. MERIVALE.
And of Anacreon : —
But back I fled, and cowardly forsook
My shield beside the clearly running brook?
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tfvros dfj.&jj.'tjTov Kd\\nrov OVK £6£\wv '
avrbs 5 ££t(pvyov 6a.v6.Tov rAos* d<nris tKeiv-rj
tppfTu • ^aurts KT-^ffOfiai. ov /ca/a'a>.
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dfftrida ptiras TroTa.fj.ov Ka\\ip6ov irap
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
And of Horace, Alcaeus' Roman imitator : —
With thee I saw Philippics plain,
Its fatal rout, a fearful scene !
And dropped, alas ! thy inglorious shield,
Where valour's self was fore* d to yield}-
— FRANCIS.
In the duel with Phrynon it is related that
Pittacus vanquished his antagonist by entangling
him in a net and killing him with a trident, a
form of combat called retiarii, afterward forced
upon the gladiators in the Roman amphitheatres.
That the Lesbians considered the defeat at
Sigeum an honourable one is proved by the fact
that they received the home-coming army with
great honours, and richly rewarded Pittacus. The
war with Athens was terminated by the arbitra-
tion of Periander, Tyrant of Corinth, who left
each state in control of its original territory.
Then followed another period of internal dis-
sensions and bloody wars. Myrsilus, Megalagy-
rus, the Cleanactids,and others placed themselves
at the head of the people, each claiming to be
endeavouring to establish a democracy, bat really
intending to enthrone himself as tyrant. Against
these demagogues Alcaeus, with intense patriot-
ism and unquestioned bravery, led the nobles,
1 Carm. II, 7, 9.
13
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
and, for many years, was victorious. Myrsilus
was defeated and killed, and Alcaeus, in/r. xxvi
heartily rejoices. But eventually the democ-
racy was triumphant, and Alcaeus, Antimenidas,
and the other nobles were driven into exile.
There is no further mention of Cicis, who, per-
haps, was killed during the Athenian war, or in
one of the internal disturbances. In the wars
between the nobles and the democratic faction,
Alcaeus not only took an active part as a soldier,
but aroused his fellows by war poems assailing
the demagogues, and filled with all the bitter in-
vective that his intense nature was capable of
putting forth. To this period must be ascribed
most of the Stasiotica, or Polemic Odes, more
especially The Ship of State, frs. xx and xxi, the
original of all the allegories wherein the state
is likened to a ship, and directed, according to
Heraclides, against Myrsilus ; the description of
the armoury, fr. xix, and other polemic pieces.
The poem on the armoury has frequently been
cited by modern critics to prove that Alcaeus
was nothing more than a military fop, fond of
the trappings of war, but not in love with its
dangers. In his lectures upon Greece, delivered
before the Lowell Institute, the late President
Felton, of Harvard University, speaking of Al-
caeus and of this poem, says : " The longest piece
'4
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
remaining of this poet is bis brilliant description of
the martial furniture with which he had embellished
his own habitation ; and this piece of military fop-
pery is a proof that it was the show and gauds of
war^ and not its hard blows^ to which he was
addicted" The ending of this poem proves,
however, that it was written by Alcaeus to in-
cite his followers to be about their warlike work.
Moreover, the unanimous testimony of all an-
cient writers that Alcaeus was a courageous
soldier is sufficient to overthrow these modern
deductions. Professor George S. Farnell, in
his note on this poem, calls Wellington to wit-
ness the well-known fact that the greatest mili-
tary dandies frequently make the best soldiers ;
and we have at home illustrious examples in our
own Washington and Lee.
During their exile, Alcaeus and Antimenidas
travelled widely. According to Strabo, Alcaeus
visited Egypt, and, in one of his poems, described
the mouths of the Nile. It is probable that he
wandered into Thrace. In fr. xcix he praises
the Hebrus as the most beautiful of rivers, and
Bergk argues that he must have travelled in
Thrace in order to experience the winter de-
scribed in fr. viii. Antimenidas went even as
far as Babylon, where he served in the army
of Nebuchadnezzar, and achieved a great repu-
15
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
tation as a doughty warrior. He probably took
part in the conquest of Judea and the destruc-
tion of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. In fr. xviii
Alcaeus welcomes him home and relates one of
his deeds of prowess for which the Babylonians
rewarded him with a sword whose hilt was of
ivory inlaid with gold. Xo this period of exile
and travel are to be ascribed the songs of travel
of which we have numerous small fragments,
and many of the Drinking-songs. During their
exile, the nobles never lost sight of their design
to reestablish the aristocracy in Mitylene, and
were continually planning and plotting against
the home government. It is possible that the
real reason of Antimenidas' connection with
the Babylonians was to enlist their aid for the
nobles. As the noble party grew stronger and
began to threaten an invasion of Lesbos, the
people grew fearful, and, in 589 B.C., chose
Pittacus as Aisymnttti or absolute ruler for ten
years, to strengthen the city and lead them in
repelling the aristocratic party. Upon this,
Alcaeus attacked Pittacus in the bitterest and
most scurrilous verses. In/K xxiv he calls him
/ca/coTrdrpiBa = base-born, because he was not
of noble birth ; and in other fragments he calls
him "Drag-foot," "Split-foot," "Thick-belly,"
" Dirty Fellow," and other contemptuous names.
16
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
Pittacus was at this time about sixty years
of age. He was a native of Mitylene, his father
being Tyrrhadius or Hyrrhadius, a Thracian,
and his mother a Lesbian. Besides being a
warrior of renown and a political leader of great
sagacity, he was a man of letters, and was reck-
oned one of the Seven Sages. Some of the many
sententious sayings attributed to him in ancient
times have survived, among them : " Know
the proper time" and u // is difficult to be vir-
tuous." We have, too, a short poem by him
which has been thus rendered by Mr. Charles
Merivale: —
March with bow and well-stock? d quiver
Arnfd against the wicked wight ;
For his tongue is faithless ever^
Words and thoughts just opposite?-
It is said that he composed many elegiac
verses. Pittacus has generally been pictured as
a wise, moderate ruler, ambitious only to further
the good of Mitylene and its people ; but, while
his ability cannot be questioned, we have a
glimpse of the other side of the picture in the
1 'EXOPTO Set r6£ov re teal iod6Kov QaptTpav
(rreixeiv irorl <f>u>Ta Kaic6v.
irurrbv y&p oi>8£t> y\ci>ff
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
refrain of the popular Mill Song of Mitylene,
which has been preserved : —
Grind, mill, grind !
For Pittacus himself is grinding,
Ruling mighty Mitylene.1
It is related that Pittacus restored rule and
order to the city, which enjoyed several years
of peace. But the nobles, gathering all their
strength, made a last, desperate effort to regain
power. About 585 B.C. Alcaeus, at the head
of the exiles, invaded the island, but was defeated
and taken prisoner. Pittacus released him, say-
ing that forgiveness was better than revenge.
He has been praised and highly applauded for
his apparent great generosity to Alcaeus, who
was not only an enemy of the State, but also
his bitter personal foe. But it is more pleasant
to forgive than to be forgiven, easier to play the
part of the magnanimous victor than to accept
from his hands the bitter fruits of defeat. It is
possible, too, that it was rather shrewdness than
generosity which prompted Pittacus ; for, by
sacrificing Alcaeus to his personal hatred, he
would only further have inflamed the partisans
1 "AXet /j.v\a 4Xet •
Kal yap HiTTa
18
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
of the aristocratic faction. That Alcaeus
accepted his fate with equanimity and settled
down into the life of a peaceable citizen would
seem to put him in quite as good a light as
Pittacus.
Alcaeus was now fast approaching middle
life ; and though we have no further historical
mention of him, it is probable from fr. xxxvii
that he lived to enjoy a ripe old age.
Pittacus ruled the city well until 579, when
he declined a reelection, but lived ten years
longer, dying at an advanced age in 569 B.C.
The only relative named or addressed by
Alcaeus in the fragments we have is his brother
Antimenidas. There is no mention of father
or mother, wife or child, and it is probable that
he was not married. He addresses or names
some of his friends, and the beautiful youths
Menon and Dinnomenes; and, in the scanty
remains of his Love-songs, we can find mention
of only Sappho. There is little doubt that he
was in love with Sappho, and was one of her
— perhaps many — rejected suitors. Aristotle,
quoting line 2 of/r. xii, says that it was addressed
by Alcaeus to Sappho ; and the first line of the
same fragment rests upon the authority of
Hephaestion. Hermesianax in a Catalogue of
Things Relating to Love, quoted by Athenaeus,
19
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
xv, 598 B, says that Alcaeus often sang of his
love for Sappho : —
And well tbou knowest how famed Alcaeus smote
Of bis high harp the love-enlivened strings,
And raised to Sappho's praise the enamoured notey
'Midst noise of mirth and jocund revellings :
Aye^ he did love that nightingale of song
With all a lover's fervours.1 — J. BAILEY.
But Hermesianax is not so sure an authority,
for in the same poem he commits the anach-
ronism of making Anacreon one of Sappho's
lovers. Stephanus of Byzantium, and among
later critics Professor F. Blass of Kiel, have
argued that Aristotle was mistaken or was
merely following a common but erroneous tra-
dition in attributing this fragment to Alcaeus,
and that it belongs, together with Sappho's
answer, to a dialogue composed entirely by
Sappho. But in addition to the inherent im-
probability of Aristotle's mistake in a matter
of authorship, which he states so clearly and
positively, is the fact that two of his disciples,
Chamaeleon and Dicaearchus, wrote treatises
on Alcaeus and Sappho, and Aristotle had
'AXxeuos §£ 7r6croi>s dveS^aro KW/XOI/S
l/jLep6evTa ir&dov, K.T.\.
20
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
therefore an unusual occasion to be thoroughly
familiar and accurately acquainted with both
poets. The circumstance that the lines attrib-
uted to Alcaeus are in a modified Sapphic metre
(that is, Sapphic with the addition of anacrusis,
a form never used by Sappho, but frequently by
Alcaeus), and the lines attributed to Sappho are
in Alcaics, seems to be enough to destroy the
theory that all belonged to a dialogue composed
by Sappho. The great trouble with some of
the critics is that they become Sappho-mad
(a sweet and easy malady ! for who can study
the beguiling mistress of song without becoming
a worshipper ?), and seek all possible excuses to
add to her too scanty remains every fragment
worthy of her muse. Among the later Greek
critics and during the early centuries of this
era, while the poems of Sappho and Alcaeus
were extant, the story of Alcaeus' love for the
poetess was accepted without question and was
a favourite subject in art. An ancient terra-
cotta plaque of unknown manufacture, in the
British Museum, represents Sappho with her
lyre, seated, while Alcaeus stands leaning toward
her, grasping her lyre with his right hand, the
two conversing or singing; and at Munich there
is a vase of the fifth century, upon which Al-
caeus and Sappho are pictured standing, with
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
lyres in hand, singing. Added to the historical
testimony is the very strong probability of the
story. Alcaeus and Sappho belonged to a class
within a class in a small insular city; they
were both poets, both aristocrats, both natives
of Mitylene. They were therefore necessarily
brought into close contact with each other,
and it would be strange indeed had not the
strong, impulsive, manly, warrior-poet become
enamoured of the poetess, no less strong, but
truly feminine, no less impulsive but more deli-
cate, a woman before whose genius he, master-
poet though he was, must have bowed down in
self-forgetful homage. It is further probable
that Alcaeus and Sappho were associated not
only at home but in exile, for it is pretty
well authenticated that for some reason Sappho
fled from Mitylene to Sicily about the end of
the seventh century. As she belonged to the
nobility, or the aristocratic party, it is possible
that she was forced to flee with the other nobles
after their defeat, which happened about this
time, and that she returned to Lesbos after
peace was established; while Alcaeus roamed
from country to country, until, at the head of
the nobles, he invaded his native city and suf-
fered his final defeat. It is certain that Alcaeus
was younger than Sappho, and perhaps in this
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
fact is to be found the secret of his failure to
win her love ; for it is possible, and even prob-
able, that the following fragment of one of her
poems is another repulse to the pleadings of
Alcaeus : —
If thou wouldst still be dear to me,
With younger maidens seek thy joy ;
For I am loath to mate with thee,
An older woman with a boy ! 1
Both the public and private character of
Alcaeus have suffered much at the hands of
some modern critics. He has been painted as
a political trickster and malcontent and as a
vain military fop, and in his private life as
a drunkard and libertine. Colonel Mure has
placed him, together with Sappho, beyond the
pale of human respectability; and Dr. Felton,
in the lectures above referred to, after quoting
Merivale's translations of some of the Drinking-
songs, says : u We cannot wonder at any madness
or folly in the life of a man so devoted to the god of
wine." And later : " We cannot respect his per-
sonal character, which was stained by boastfulness,
1 'AXX' iuv ^Xoj &wiv (dXXo)
ov y&p T\dcrofi €
effffa yepaiTtpa. (BERGK, No. 75.)
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
excess , and perhaps profligacy. He was an unscru-
pulous and bitter hater of men who had in any way
offended him^ and he slandered them without stint or
decency"
But, after all, what would it matter were all
these charges true ? what effect has an author's
private life upon the literary worth of his writ-
ings ? We may as well prepare to purge our
libraries of considerably more than half of the
best literature of the world, if we are to judge it
by the private lives of its producers as painted
by the zealous and jealous defenders of the
purity of literature who live after them. Yet,
while it does not affect the merit of his writings,
it is a satisfaction to know that an author whom
one admires is not altogether bad. The public
life of Alcaeus, and the charges that he was
a military fop and a coward, have already been
considered. It is inconceivable that a man
should for many years maintain the leadership
of a large and powerful political party, a party
which for many generations had been in control
of the state, and be aught but a brave, generous,
and able leader. The charges that Alcaeus was
a drunkard are founded upon his avowed fond-
ness for wine and upon the large proportion
that the Drinking-songs bear to the whole of
his remains. That he was fond of wine is not
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
to be denied, but he preached its use, not its
abuse, as is clearly shown infr. xi. The Greeks
were a temperate race, and drunkenness was not
one of their vices. With their famous wines —
and the Lesbian wines were particularly noted
for their excellence — it was the custom to mix
water, and it appears from/H. i, x, and Ixiv that
Alcaeus did not depart from this custom. How
different from the drinking-songs of Alcaeus is
the exclamation of Catullus : —
At vos quo libet hinc abite, lymphae^
Vim pernicies, et ad severos
Migrate : hie merus est Thyonianus.
— xxvii, 5-7.
Arguing from their writings we may more
reasonably conclude that Horace was a drunk-
ard than Alcaeus. The large number of Drink-
ing-songs among the fragments argues nothing.
They are nearly all quoted by Athenaeus to
prove that Alcaeus had composed them for all
occasions, but there is nothing to show how
great a portion of his ten books of poems were
Drinking-songs. The charge that he was a
libertine, addicted to many vices, is founded not
so much upon anything to be found in his frag-
ments, or in early historical statements, as upon
the statement of Quintilian that Alcaeus at
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
times debased his muse by writing unworthy
things; and upon certain remarks of Cicero.
The charge is so intangible as to be impossible
of refutation. Greek morals of the sixth cen-
tury B.C. were, in one very essential feature, the
direct antithesis of Christian ideals ; and with the
remark that in his private life Alcaeus was prob-
ably neither better nor worse than the average
Lesbian of birth, education, and position in that
day, the whole subject may very profitably be
dismissed.
The extent of the writings of Alcaeus was
considerable, for Hephaestion says that Aristoph-
anes and Aristarchus, the famous Alexandrian
grammarians and critics, wrote commentaries on
his poems and divided them into ten books ; and
this is corroborated by Athenaeus, who quotes
fr. vii from the Tenth Book. Hephaestion
does not say in what manner this division was
made, whether chronologically, by metre, or by
subject. Of the ten books we have now remain-
ing only a handful of fragments, scarcely two
hundred lines in all, and even these would be
lost to us but for the quotations by Athenaeus,
Apollonius, Hephaestion, Strabo, Heraclides, and
others. In what manner his works have so
completely perished it is impossible to con-
jecture. Cardan says that the works of the
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
lyric poets were burned by Gregory Nazianzen
about 380 A.D., but even if this story be true, all
the copies of Alcaeus then existing were not
destroyed ; for a quarter of a century later Hora-
pollo, the grammarian of Alexandria and Con-
stantinople, wrote a commentary on Alcaeus.
According to Scaliger the poets were burnt at
Rome and Constantinople under Gregory VII
about 1073. This story has little or no corrobo-
ration, and even if true, it is incredible that all
the manuscripts of the poets were collected and
destroyed. It is the ardent hope of the entire
literary world that the works of Alcaeus and of
the other lyric poets may yet be recovered ; and
that this hope is not a foolish one and may yet
be realised is proved by the recent discoveries of
Herondas and Bacchylides, and the more recent
and very extensive discoveries of ancient manu-
scripts in Egypt by Mr. Bernard P. Grenfell and
Mr. Arthur S. Hunt, from which an ode of
Sappho, a fragment of Alcman, and other classi-
cal fragments have been sifted and published.
But until the longed-for discovery is made we
must be content with one complete poem of
seven lines or twenty-one cola, The Armoury,
fr. xix, and a hundred fragments of from one to
nine lines. We are indebted to the Deipnoso-
phists of Athenaeus, that great treasure house
zy
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
of classic gems, for The Armoury and for most
of the Drinking-songs — one ode and thirteen
fragments in all, aggregating forty-four lines ;
to Apollonius for seventeen fragments or twenty-
two lines ; and to Hephaestion for fifteen frag-
ments or twenty-one lines. Heraclides preserves
the two fragments (xx and xxi) The Ship of State;
Aristotle and Hephaestion preserve the address
to Sappho ; and the remaining fragments are
found in the etymologies and in the writings of
Strabo, Plutarch, and a score of grammarians,
rhetoricians, and scholiasts. These fragments
embrace a wide variety of subjects, but have
usually been divided into five classes : Drinking-
songs, Love-songs, Polemic or Seditious Songs,
Hymns, and Miscellaneous Songs. The Drink-
ing-songs, the Polemics, and many of the Mis-
cellaneous Songs may be classed as Scolia, or
short, monodic pieces, to be sung at banquets
or convivial meetings. In addition to the Hymns
it is probable that Alcaeus composed more elab-
orate paeans ; but all his poems of which we
have any trace are purely melic, or lyrics in the
true sense, that is, monodic songs, subjective, or
expressive of the poet's personal feelings result-
ing from his own experiences, and composed for
singing.
In ancient times, and while his songs were
28
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
still extant, Alcaeus enjoyed the highest reputa-
tion. He was placed among the nine great lyric
poets and by some critics was given preeminence
over them all. Athenaeus says that he was the
greatest musician that ever lived. His works
were studied and taught, and elaborate commen-
taries were written on them by Aristophanes
and Aristarchus, the most celebrated of the
Alexandrians ; by Chamaeleon and Dicaearchus,
the disciples of Aristotle ; by Callias the Mity-
lenean ; and by Horapollo. He was frequently
quoted by the historians and rhetoricians. The
historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus says of him :
" Observe in Alcaeus the sublimity, brevity, and
sweetness coupled with stern power, his splendid
figures, and his clearness which was unimpaired by
the dialect; and above all mark his manner of
expressing his sentiments on public affairs" 1
He was the acknowledged poetic master of
Horace, who pays tribute to him in the Thir-
teenth Ode of the Second Book : —
Where Sappho's sweet complaints reprove
The rivals of her fame and love,
, ert 8£
ft)) TTJ 8ia\£KT<t> n KeK&KWTat, Kal irpb avdvrwv rd TWP
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
Alcaeus bolder sweeps the strings,
And seas, and war, and exile sings !
Thus while they strike the various lyre,
The ghosts the sacred sounds admire ;
But when Alcaeus tunes the strain
To deeds of war, and tyrants slain,
In thicker crowds the shadowy throng
Drink deeper down the martial song.
— FRANCIS.
And again in the Nineteenth Epistle of the
First Book, where he boasts that he is the first
to give Alcaeus to Rome : —
I first attempted in the lyric tone
His numbers, to the Roman lyre unknown,
And joy, that works of such unheard-of taste
By men of worth and genius were embraced.
— FRANCIS.
Horace also makes this boast in the Exegi
Monumentum.
Quintilian, in Book X, referring to the praise
bestowed by Horace, says : " Alcaeus is deserv-
edly given a golden harp in that part of his works
where he inveighs against tyrants and contributes
to good morals ; in his language he is concise, exalted,
careful, and often like an orator ; but he has
30
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
descended into wantonness and amours, though better
fitted for higher things"1
In the variety of his subjects, in the exquisite
rhythm of his metres, and in the faultless perfec-
tion of his style, all of which appear even in the
mutilated fragments, he excels all the poets, even
his more intense, more delicate, and more truly
inspired contemporary, Sappho. His powers of
description are of the highest order, and his pic-
tures are real and vivid ; there is neither a word
too much nor one wanting. Reading fr. iii one
can almost feel the sultry breath of the summer
fields wooing one to languor; andyr. viii makes
one long for the cheery log fire and a cask of
rich old Lesbian vintage. The Shipwreck is as
realistic as it is impetuous ; and in fr. xix we
have a finished picture of the poet's armoury in
all its details. He was fond of allegory, but his
figures of speech though perfect are few ; and
the similes which he uses, especially in frs. xl
and liii, are simple but striking. In his choice
of adjectives and in the aptness of his epithets
he is unexcelled. Elision occurs rarely in his
verses, but he makes frequent use of alliteration
1 In parte operis aureo plectro merito donatur qua tyrannos insec-
tatur multum etiam moribus confert ; in eloquendo quoque brevis et
magnificus et diligens et plerumque oratori similis : sed in lusus et
amores descendit, majoribus tamen aptior.
31
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
and even of rhyme, for the regularly recurring
assonance in many of the fragments is too
marked to be merely accidental.
In rhythmical powers, in mastery of metre,
Alcaeus easily excels all the poets. He uses
trochees and iambs, and their composite the cho-
riamb, dactyls, spondees, and Ionics, and com-
bines them in almost numberless variations, and
with consummate musical skill. The most
famous of his metres is the Alcaic, called after
him because he is supposed to have invented it ;
though it is probable that it was invented by
Archilochus or Alcman and developed and per-
fected by Alcaeus. The Alcaic stanza, or
" system," consisting of four lines, or cola, is a
most artistic combination of trochees and dactyls.
Concerning this metre and Horace's adaptation
of it Professor Farnell says : " As most classical
readers owe their acquaintance with the Alcaic
stanza to the Odes of Horace, it is important for
me to point out in what particulars the Roman poet
deviated from his Greek model. The proper metri-
cal scheme of the stanza in Alcaeus is, strictly speak-
ing, as follows : —
'• _ W _ \J
3*
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
This is varied by admitting an c irrational ' long
syllable in certain places, so the scheme becomes in
practice : —
w : _ w _ w — ^ \j _ w _ A
w : — \j w — — w w — \j — A
// «;/// be noticed that whereas in the neutral
places Alcaeus employs a long or short syllable more
or less indifferently, Horace with rare exceptions
employs a long syllable only ; so that his regular
scheme becomes
— : — w -- — v/ w — w —
In the anacrusis of the first three lines^ Horace
does indeed not infrequently employ a short syllable,
there being some twenty instances in the Odes ; but
in the case of the fifth syllable, we find one single
example alone of a short quantity, viz., Od. Hi.,
5- I?-' —
4 Si non per tret immiserabilis*
It is not likely that these changes in the jflcaic
stanza were made by Horace unconsciously. His
Odes were written, not for melody, as those of Alcaeus,
but for recitation ; and the slower movement effected
by the extensive use of the ' irrational ' long syllables
33
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
imparted a gravity and dignity to the rhythm admi-
rably adapted in most cases to the nature of the sub-
ject.
" There is another novel and important feature
in Horace's Alcaics; namely, the employment in
II 1-2 of diaeresis after the fifth syllable or the
second trochee, thus : —
Caelo tonantem || credidimus Jovem.
" In Alcaeus cases of such diaeresis are entirely
accidental, but Horace admits of only four exceptions
to the practice : —
(1) Od. i. 1 6. 21. Hostile aratrum exercitus
insolens.
(2) Od. i. 37. 5. Antehac nefas depromere
Caecubum.
(3) Od. i. 37. 14. Mentemque lymph at am
Mareotico.
(4) Od. iv. 14. 17. Spectandus in certamine
Martio.
" Of elision between the fifth and sixth syllables,
I find no more than eighteen instances throughout
the Odes of Horace.
" Having slackened the natural movement of the
rhythm by avoiding short quantities whenever it was
possible to do so, he evidently found the line too long
for a single colon. Indeed, when we read the four
examples above, where there is no diaeresis, we feel
34
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
that, in declamation, if not in melody, the pause
after the second trochee falls best on a final syllable"
Alcaeus also uses the Sapphic stanza, some-
times adding "anacrusis" (i.e. a short foot, usually
of one, sometimes of two, syllables, preceding
the first real foot of the measure) to give more
strength to the lines. It is impossible really to
reproduce in English the Greek metres, but
attempts at the reproduction of the Alcaic and
Sapphic measures will be found in the verse
translations offrs. xxvii and xxviii.
Another striking example of metre in Alcaeus
is found in frs. xi, xix, and xxx. This is a
very artistic and musical combination of trochees,
dactyls, and iambs. Each line is a stanza or
" system," consisting of three cola, the first two
being Glyconic verses and the third an iambic
dipody. He was very fond of choriambs, which
we find in no less than seven of the longer frag-
ments, the choriambic metre proper always
being introduced by a " basis " consisting of a
trochee, dactyl, iamb, or two short syllables ;
and he makes frequent use of logaoedic meas-
ures (that is, combinations of trochaic and dac-
tylic metres, as in the Alcaics, Sapphics, and
Glyconics) and of the choreic dactyl.
Professor Farnell, in his criticism of Alcaeus,
while praising the artistic excellence of his verse,
35
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
complains that no true poetry can be found in
his songs. He says : " His faultless style and
the unflagging energy of bis sentiments are worthy
of the greatest admiration ; but there is something
we look for in great poetry which is wanting in
Alcaeus. The poet's eye should 4 move from heaven
to earth^ from earth to heaven^ but the gaze of
Alcaeus remains fixed upon the earth, and he never
transports us with him into an ideal region. His
descriptive passages, for all their vivid realism, are
not lit up by any radiance of the imagination ; they
have none of the glamour of Alcmarfs famous
ILvSov<nv £' opewv fcopvfai re ical Qdpayyes
K.T.\. or the rapture of the dithyramb in which
Pindar celebrates the approach of spring. Even
the line that has in it the truest ring of high poetry —
*H/?o? avOcpoevros iiralov €p%OfMevoto — is but
the prelude to an invitation to the wine-cup. In
fact, Alcaeus makes manifest to us that poetry was
the ornament or plaything of his existence rather
than its vital essence. Most of his poems may be
ascribed to the class of Paroenia or Scolia, and this
alone would lead us to expect that the writer would
aim rather at appealing to the sympathies of his
boon companions than to an exalted poetic standard.
Nevertheless, his poetry is admirable of its kind,
and in variety and rhythmical power surpasses that
of his else more gifted contemporary, Sappho. It is
36
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
only when we look to find in Alcaeus a master-spirit
among poets that we need be disappointed"
While admitting that there is not to be found
in Alcaeus the intense poetic spirit and the sub-
limity of imagination which are so superabundant
in Sappho, it is impossible to agree with Pro-
fessor Farnell in denying to him the exalted
sentiments of a truly great poet. In studying
his fragments it is essential to consider the
manner in which they have been preserved.
Many of the fragments of Sappho and of the
other lyrists have been quoted and preserved for
the very reason of their poetic beauty and
artistic excellence. Not so with Alcaeus.
Athenaeus quotes the Drinking-songs to prove
that Alcaeus composed one for every occasion,
and The Armoury to illustrate his remark that
music was an exhortation to courage. The
other fragments are quoted by a lexicographer
in discussing a word, by a grammarian to prove
a construction, by a prosodian to illustrate a
metre, or by historians, geographers, and phi-
losophers in proof or argument. Nevertheless,
among these fragments, quoted haphazard as
they are, may be found phrases which prove
that the poet's mind soared far above the ban-
quet table, and far beyond petty political in-
trigues. The most conspicuous of these is
37
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
fr. xxii, Fighting men are the City's fortress. This
is all that is left of what must have been a truly
great poem, a poem in which Alcaeus tells his
countrymen that not in lifeless stones and
timbers are to be found the greatness and
strength of a commonwealth, but in its brave and
noble citizens. We may form some notion of
what this song was from Sir William Jones' noble
paraphrase, The State, which commences : —
What constitutes a State ?
Not high-raised battlement, or laboured mound,
Thick wall or moated gate ;
Not cities fair, with spires and turrets crowned,
No ; men, high-minded men.
And we may form an idea of what an impres-
sion it made upon the ancient mind, and how
well known and popular it was, from the remark
of Aristides : " // seems to me that only Themistocles
of all men has truthfully, or at any rate carefully,
shown briefly what are the words which the poet
Alcaeus sang~ long ago, for many receiving them, one
from another, they afterwards came to be : Nor
stones nor timbers nor the art of building forms
cities, but whenever and wherever there may be
found men ready to defend themselves there is the
city and the fortress " l
1 For text, seefr. xxii and note.
38
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
Frs. xxxii, xlvii, Ix, and Ixxxiii are doubtless
from songs of exalted sentiment, and fr. Ivi is
clearly the original of Horace's : Duke et decorum
est pro patria mori.1
Alcaeus has the appreciation of and love for
nature, especially the little things of nature,
which are common to all great poets. This is
especially apparent in his enthusiastic greeting
to spring, his descriptions of summer and winter,
and the storm at sea, in his mention of the wild
duck,yK xxxiii, of the sea cockle, fr. xxxiv, and
of the stag,yh xc, and in his praise of the river
Hebrus, fr. xcix.
While Archilochus was Alcaeus' great mas-
ter, he also learned from Hesiod, for Summer, frs.
iii and iv, and Speech for Speech, fr. xxxv, are
close imitations of passages in the Works and
Days. It is probable that his love of epic forms
is due to the influence of Homer.
He himself was widely imitated by Theognis,
by the Greek tragedians, and by the other Greek
poets ; but principally by Horace.
The debt of Horace to Alcaeus must have
been very great ; for even among the scanty frag-
ments that we have of Alcaeus we find nearly a
score that were imitated by Horace in sense and
1 Carm. Ill, 2, 13.
39
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
metre, sometimes almost word for word, and
occasionally whole stanzas together. It is true
that Horace studied and imitated the other
Greek lyrists, but as he himself testifies, Al-
caeus was his principal master. Nearly all his
lyric metres are founded on Alcaeus, and it is
probable that many of his poems are direct
translations. We can admit this without con-
sidering Horace in any sense a plagiarist; for
not only does he boast of having translated him,
but it is probable that among educated Romans
of that day Alcaeus was as current as Horace
himself. A comparison of the songs of Alcaeus
with their imitations by Horace serves strongly
to bring out and show clearly the true poetic
genius of the former ; for great as was his skill,
Horace failed to transfer to his imitations the
fire and energy of his model even more sig-
nally than did Catullus fall short of imparting
to his translations of The Ode to Anactoria
and the Epitbalamia the true spirit of Sappho.
At first thought it seems strange that Catullus,
although confessedly a student of the Greek
lyrists, and a translator of Sappho and Callima-
chus, was entirely unaffected by Alcaeus. In
all his poems there is no trace, in thought, style,
or metre, of the influence of Alcaeus. This
may be due to the dissimilarity of Catullus from
40
LIFE OF ALCAEUS
Alcaeus in his nature and poetical gifts, and his
similarity to him in outward life and career.
The poetical gifts of Catullus were cast in
the same mould as Sappho's. He was more
intense, more passionate, more spontaneous, less
easily bound down by the strict canons of the
poetic art, than Alcaeus and Horace. Indeed,
in true poetical genius he was as much superior
to the Lesbian as he was to his own great and
famous compatriot, and as Sappho must be
ranked as the most highly gifted of the Greek
lyrists, so must Catullus be considered the great-
est of the Roman. But in his life Catullus was
more truly the Roman successor of Alcaeus than
was Horace. In his travels and probable mili-
tary career, in his political position, in his hatred
and abuse of Caesar and Mamurra, in his unfor-
tunate love, in his fondness for wine and con-
vivial company, in his love for home, indeed, in
all his loves and hates, and in all the essential
features of his life, Catullus was marvellously
like his Lesbian predecessor. This dissimilarity
iin one direction and similarity in the other would
each naturally tend to turn the Roman aside from
:he study and imitation of the Lesbian.
In other far distant climes and times the great
L»esbian poet, soldier, and exile has had his suc-
.essors, and in the Portuguese Camoens and the
41
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
English Byron he seems almost to have lived
again.
In concluding his remarks upon Alcaeus in
the essay on the " Nine Lyric Poets," published
in The Gentleman's Magazine for April, 1877,
Mr. John Moreton Walhouse calls attention to
the similarity of the lives of Alcaeus and Byron :
" This fiery Greek ran through all the vicissitudes
of life, and tinged them with his genius. Remem-
bering how in our own age another passionate spirit,
also nobly born, a wild, impulsive poet, keen satirist,
lover of wine and beauty, devoted to freedom, and
dying for its cause under Grecian skies, wandered
and sang amid the sunny Cyclades, a Pythagorean
philosopher might also declare that in Byron Alcaeus
had, after millenniums, lived again and once more-
visited his former abodes."
LONGER FRAGMENTS
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
2TMHOTIKA
I
H/)05 avOe/JLoevros evrdiov e
ev Be /cipvare ro> /LteXtaSeo? om rd
tcpdrrjpa.
II
'AXX' avrJTO) fiev irepl rat?
TrepOeTco TrXe/crat? vTroOvjjLi&ds rt?,
tcaB Be %evdrQ) pvpov aBv /car TW
44
LONGER FRAGMENTS
DRINKING-SONGS
SPRING
I feel the coming of the flowery Spring,
Wakening tree and vine ;
A bowl capacious quickly bring
And mix the honeyed wine.
Weave for my throat a garland of fresh dill,
And crown my head with flowers,
And o'er my breast sweet perfumes spill
In aromatic showers.
45
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
III
Teyye irvevpovas oiva> • TO yap darpov
TeXXerat,
a S* a>pa ^aXeTra, Trdvra 8e Styaur' VTTO
e/c TreraXft)!' pd&ea Terrtf ,
S'
\iyvpav (TTVKVQV) aotSav, (^e/ao?)
OTTTTOTa
<j>\dyiov Kara ydv freTrrdfj.evov Ti'dvra icarav-
dvrj.
Kal <Tfcd\vfjLO<; • vvv Be yvvaiice? juapa>-
8' avSpes, eTrel «al /ce^dXav Kal yova
IV
TO 7a/> ao-rpov
46
LONGER FRAGMENTS
SUMMER
Come all and wet your throats with wine,
The dog-star reigns on high,
The Summer parches tree and vine,
And everything is dry.
Full cheerily the locust sings
Within the leafy shade,
Rasping away beneath his wings
A shrill-toned serenade.
Come all, and drink, the star is up !
Come all and drain the sparkling cup.
The artichokes are all ablow
And all the fields ablaze,
Where Phoebus draws his dazzling bow
And hurls his spreading rays.
The women burn with fierce desire,
The men are dead with heat,
For Sirius sends a baleful fire
And parches head and feet.
Come all, and drink, the star is up !
Come all and drain the sparkling cup.
47
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
V
av6os oTrcupa?.
VI
Olvos yap avOpwroK
VII
Adraye: iroTeovrat,
airo Trjidv.
LONGER FRAGMENTS
AUTUMN
A PARAPHRASE
Behold ! the tender Autumn flower
Is purpling on the hill,
The roses wither on the bower,
And vanished is the dill.
The morning air is keen and bright,
The afternoon is full of light,
And Hesper ushers in the night
With breezes damp and chill.
The purple harvest of the vine
Is bleeding in the press,
And Bacchus comes to taste the wine
And all our labours bless.
Then bring a golden bowl immense,
And mix enough to drown your sense,
And care not if you soon commence
Your secrets to confess.
For wine a mirror is, to show
The image that is fair,
The friend of lightsome mirth, the foe
Of shadow-haunting care.
So fill your Teian goblet up,
And scatter jewels from the cup,
And drink until the last hiccough
Shall drown your latest woe.
49
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
VIII
"Tet ftev 6 Zev?, etc B* opdvw /-teya?
t ireTrdyaa-iv S* vBdrcov poai.
(IIoWo? Be vvv, fiaOela 0* v\a,
Qpaliciw (Bopea
TOV %et/JL(ov, eVt pev ri
Trvp, ev Be Kipvais olvov a^etSaw?
v, aura/3 apcfrl Kopcrq
IX
Ov %pr) Katcoici Ovfjiov
Trpotcoijro/jLev yap ovBev aa-d
& Bu/c^i, <f)dpfjLatcov B* dpLcrrov
olvov
LONGER FRAGMENTS
WINTER
Zeus hails. The streams are frozen. In the sky
A mighty winter storm is raging high.
And now the forest thick, the ocean hoar,
Grow clamorous with the Thracian tempest's
roar.
But drive away the storm, and make the fire
Hotter, and pile the logs and faggots higher;
Pour out the tawny wine with lavish hand,
And bind about thy head a fleecy band.
It ill befits to yield the heart to pain.
What profits grief, or what will sorrow gain ?
O Bacchus, bring us wine, delicious wine,
And sweet intoxication, balm divine.
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
X
Hivcopev rC ra \v")(y oppevopev ;
afiepa.
KaS 8' aeppe KV\i%vai<: peydXais, atra,
polvov yap Se/i-eXa? Kal A to? vlo? \a0i/cdSea
€&G>K. ey^ee /cepvais eva /cat 8uo
/ca/e /ce^>aXa9' a 8* are/aa Tav arepav
LONGER FRAGMENTS
AN EVENING SONG
Let us drink, and pledge the night !
Wherefore wait the torches' light ?
Twilight's hour is brief.
Pass the ample goblet 'round,
Gold-enwrought, whereon is wound
Many a jewelled leaf.
Sprung from Semele and Zeus
Dionysus gave to us
Care-dispelling wine.
Pouring out the liquid treasure
With one part of water measure
Two parts from the vine.
Mix it well, and let it flow,
Cup on cup shall headlong go,
While we drink and laugh,
While we sing and quaff.
53
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XI
' apurros
at Be K 6vfj<rt> faSvs Trepl <f>pevas
, av SI? a#X,to?
vet,' TTft) rdvBe,
54
LONGER FRAGMENTS
DRINK WISELY
The happiest hours are in the cup,
But O beware the waking up
If you but drink too deep.
For miserable is the wight —
Ay ! doubly wretched is his plight -
Who woos a drunkard's sleep.
Imprimis comes a splitting head,
Secundo comes, in pleasure's stead,
Remorse his heart to rend.
But if you'd taste of joys divine,
Nor yet offend the god of wine,
Drink wisely, O my friend !
55
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
EPflTIKA
XII
ayva
0e\co TI feiTTijv, a\\d /-te KQ)\vei
FROM SAPPHO
At 5' T/XC? e<r\wv tfjiepov rj
KOI fjuj TI peiTrrjv 7X0)0-0-' etcvfca KCIKOV,
atSa)? K€ <r ov
e'Xeye?
LONGER FRAGMENTS
LOVE-SONGS
SAPPHO AND ALCAEUS
ALCAEUS :
Pure, violet-crowned Lesbian maid,
Sweet-smiling Sappho, I had paid
An amorous suit to thee, but shame
Permits me scarce to breathe thy name.
SAPPHO :
Alcaeus, were thy heart and thought
With pure and noble feeling fraught,
And were thy tongue from evil free,
Nor framing double speech for me,
Shame had not driven away thy smile,
But thou hadst spoken free from guile.
57
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XIII
vE/-te Sei\av, ep
XIV
fie /ccofjid^ovra, Sefat, XtWo/tai ore,
XtWo/iai.
XV
"E# /t* eXaora?
LONGER FRAGMENTS
TO SAPPHO
A PARAPHRASE
Ah hapless me ! O miserable me !
Wretched and all forlorn !
Driven from home, and on the raging sea
Hither and thither borne !
My land a tyrant's sport, my comrades dead,
My city torn apart,
There is no peaceful pillow for my head,
No haven for my heart.
But in thine eyes I see my beacon light,
For love is throned there,
And as Apollo triumphs over night
So Eros conquers care.
Then hear my song, O hear the love I sing,
I pray thee, O I pray !
And thou wilt make me soon forget the sting
Of sorrow passed away.
59
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XVI
OVKCT eyco &VKOV
ev MotVat? dXeya).
XVII
"Aeurov afJifjLi Tav lo/coXirov.
60
LONGER FRAGMENTS
NO MORE FOR LYCUS
A PARAPHRASE
No more for Lycus will I sigh,
Or seek his fond caresses,
Or sing his darkly flashing eye,
His wealth of raven tresses.
No joyous paean will I raise
While near to him I linger ;
Nor chant again his name, nor praise
The mole upon his finger.
But raise a song for her, O Muse !
The violet-crowned maiden,
And praise her soft throat's changing hues,
Her low voice, laughter-laden.
Sing yet again her thousand charms,
Her eye's entrancing splendour,
Her swarthy cheeks and supple arms
And bosom dark and tender.
Yea, sing forevermore of her,
My mistress soft-beguiling,
Fairest of all who are, or were,
My Sappho, sweetly-smiling.
61
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
2TA2IHTIKA
XVIII
HPOS ANTIMENIAAN
*HX#e? e/c TrepciTwv yas e\e$avrtvav
\djSav TW fi'c^eo? xpva-oSerav e^ow,
yav aO\ov Ba/3uXe»^ioi?
re'Xeo-a?, pvaao r e/c
avSpa fiaf)(a(rav ficKTiXijtco
aTroXeiTrovra fidvov piav
CITTV ire
LONGER FRAGMENTS
POLEMIC SONGS
TO ANTIMENIDAS
From ends of earth thou comest home,
Bearing a glittering blade,
Whose hilt of precious ivory
With gold is overlaid.
For thou hast aided Babylon,
Achieved a glorious deed,
And been a bulwark of defence
In hour of sorest need.
Yea, thou hast fought a goodly fight,
Slaying a mighty man
Who lacked of royal cubits five
Only a single span.
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XIX
Mappaipet, Be peyas So>o? ^aX/co) • iraca &
vA/>27 KeKoafjLrjrai <rreya
\dfj,7rpaunv Kvviai<ri, tcarrav XeO/cot /carv-
TTCpOeV iTTTTLOl \O(f)Ot,
vevouriv, tc€<l>d\ai<nv avSpwv aydXpara •
Kiai Be
KpfarTOunv Trepitcefaevai \dfjL7rpai,
a/o/co? l<rxv
0a>/oa/ces re veot X«/o) /coa'Xat re /car* a
Se XaX/ctSi/cat <nrd0ai, Trap Be fw
Tro'XXa /cal
r&v OVK eo-Ti XdOea-tf, eTreiBrj Trp&Tiar VTTO
eo-ra/Jiev roBe.
64
LONGER FRAGMENTS
THE ARMOURY
The spacious hall in brazen splendour gleams,
And all the house in Ares' honour beams.
The helmets glitter ; high upon the wall
The nodding plumes of snowy horse's hair,
Man's noblest ornaments, wave over all ;
And brightly gleaming brazen greaves are there,
Each hanging safe upon its hidden nail,
A sure defence against the arrowy hail.
And many coats of mail, and doublets stout,
Breast-plates of new-spun linen, hollow shields,
Well-worn and brought from foe-abandoned
fields,
And broad Chalcidian swords are stacked about.
Bear well in mind these tools of war, they
make
Easy and sure the work we undertake.
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XX
r>v
TO pev yap evOev /cvpa /cvXtvBerai,
TO B* ev6ev • a/a/ie? £' av TO pe<T<rov
veil <f>opri[JLe6a crvv fi€\atva,
/ia\a*
7re/J fjiev yap avr\o$ IcrroTreBav e^ei,
\al(j>o<; Se irav %dSr)\ov JJ&TJ
Kal Xa/ctSe? fj>€ya\ai icar avro-
5* ay/cvpai.
XXI
TO Syvre rcvfia ra>v Trporepcov ova)
iy Trapetfei B' appi irovov 7rd\vv
avrXrjv, CTTCI K€ vao?
66
LONGER FRAGMENTS
THE SHIP OF STATE
I know not how to meet the tempest's rage !
Now here, now there the furious billows form
And compass us. We in the good black ship
Between the opposing waves are hurled, and wage
A desperate struggle with the darkling storm.
The straining sails grow clamorous ; they
rip,
And fly in rags. The foaming waters burst
Into the hold. The anchors loose their
griP-
And now a billow, greater than the first,
Rushes upon us, fraught with perils grave,
While the ship plunges deep into the wave.
67
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XXII
73-0X7709 Trvpyos apevloi.
(Ou \CQoi ovSe fvXa ovSe T€^VIJ TCKTOVCOV
a£ Tro'Xet? eler, aX\* OTTOU TTOT* av <yo-ti>
avrov9 cr<i>&iv etSore?, evravda /cat TCI^T;
7TO\et9.)
68
LONGER FRAGMENTS
THE BULWARK OF THE STATE
Not in hewn stones, nor in well-fashioned beams,
Not in the noblest of the builder's dreams,
But in courageous men, of purpose great,
There is the fortress, there the living State.
69
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XXIII
IIP02 MEAANIimON
Evrea S* oiJ • /cvro? (avov) avdtcropov e?
*I/ooi/ b
70
LONGER FRAGMENTS
ON HIS ESCAPE FROM SIGEUM
Alcaeus hath escaped the hand
Of Ares on the battle-field ;
He fled unto his native land,
But left behind his sword and shield.
The Attics held the spoils divine,
And hung them in Athena's shrine.
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XXIV
Toi>
TTo'Xto? TCI? St^oXco Kol fiapv&at-
fJLOVOS
rvpavvov /iey* eTraiveovres ao'XXee?.
LONGER FRAGMENTS
AGAINST PITTACUS
This upstart Pittacus, this base-born fool,
They greet with joy, and acclamations great,
And set the willing tyrant up to rule
The strife-torn city, most unfortunate.
73
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XXV
£lvr)p ouro? 6 fjuudfAevos TO fJLeya /cpero?
rav
74
LONGER FRAGMENTS
AGAINST MYRSILUS
This man, this raving idiot here,
With rank supreme and power great,
Will quickly overthrow the state,
Already is the crisis near.
75
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XXVI
OI %0oW 717309 @(av
Kpovrjv, eTreiSrj icdrdavc
76
LONGER FRAGMENTS
THE DEATH OF MYRSILUS
Now for wine and joy divine,
Myrsilus is dead !
Now 't is meet the earth to beat
With quick and happy tread.
For Myrsilus is dead !
Myrsilus is dead !
77
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
TMNOI
XXVII
EIS A0HNAN
a TTOU Ko/ow^a? e7rucpr)fj,vtov
vaov irdpoiOev a/u,
Kcopd\ica Trordfio) trap
H
7r6\i<r(JL
LONGER FRAGMENTS
HYMNS
TO ATHENA
(IN ALCAIC METRE)
O Queen Athena, mighty in war's alarms,
O keeping guard by river Coralio,
And on the steeps of Coronea,
Over the house of thy sacred worship !
O Queen perchance thoumovest above the camp,
The camp of our divided armies.
79
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XXVIII
EIS EPMHN
KuXXai/a? o
VjJLvrjv, rov icopv<]>ais ev
Mala yevvaro Kpov&a
80
LONGER FRAGMENTS
TO HERMES
(IN SAPPHIC METRE)
Cyllenean Ruler and Lord, a paean
Raise I now. Beloved of the son of Cronos,
Maia brought thee forth on the sacred moun-
tain's
Loftiest summit.
81
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XXIX
EI2 EPQN
Aeivorarov
(TOV) yevvar
Ze<j>vp(x>
82
LONGER FRAGMENTS
EROS
He sprang, of gods the mightiest god,
From Zephyr, golden-tressed,
And gentle Iris, neatly-shod,
When Love these lovers blessed.
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
EH AAHAHN EIAON
XXX
*n? yap $r)7TOT ' ApLo-roBafJLov <f)ai(r OVK a
\afj,vov ev STra/ara \6yov
eiTrrjv xpyndT avrjp, vrevixpos S' ovSel? Tre-
ovBe
LONGER FRAGMENTS
MISCELLANEOUS SONGS
MONEY MAKES THE MAN
In Sparta once Aristodemus,
So the story ran,
A maxim full of wisdom uttered :
" Money makes the man."
For valour leaves the wretch that's poor,
And honour shuns the pauper's door.
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XXXI
'ApydXeov irevia tcd/cov aa-%€TOV, a
\dov a^a^avia <rvv aSe\<j>ea.
86
LONGER FRAGMENTS
POVERTY
A grievous weight, too heavy to endure,
Bitter, and full of woe,
Is Poverty, who, with her sister, Want,
Cripples the people so.
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XXXII
Ta? eTuOv/jLias yap
ovre <yvvr)
ovre
88
LONGER FRAGMENTS
PUT AWAY DESIRES
'T is beautiful with pleasures gone
To put away desires,
For neither man nor maid can quench
Their all-consuming fires.
89
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XXXIII
QpmOes riVe? ocS ; w/cedvo) yas r
90
LONGER FRAGMENTS
THE WILD DUCK
What bird is this from ocean,
From ends of earth remote,
With wings wide-spread in motion,
And many-coloured throat ?
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XXXIV
TTer/oa? KCU TroXta? OaX.da'a'as TGKVOV . . .
*******
. . . ex Be TraiScvv xavvois <f>pevas, a Oa\a<r-
LONGER FRAGMENTS
THE SEA COCKLE
Child of the aged rocks,
Child of the hoary sea,
Thou fillest with joy
The heart of the boy,
O cockle from the sea.
93
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XXXV
At/e* etTT?;?, TO, 0e'X«9, (auro?) aicovGais /ce,
r K ov
94
LONGER FRAGMENTS
SPEECH FOR SPEECH
If you must freely utter
Whatever things you will,
Be then prepared to listen
To things that please you ill.
95
SHORTER FRAGMENTS
SHORTER FRAGMENTS
SHORTER FRAGMENTS
DRINKING-SONGS
XXXVI
T/3t/3o>\eTe/> • oi) yap 'AptcdSecro-i, Xco
. . . Eater of water-nuts ; for it was not a
reproach to the Arcadians to eat acorns.
XXXVII
Kar ra? 7ro\\a vradoicras /ce<f)d\as ica/c
(JLVpOV
ical icar TO> TroXia) <mj#eo?.
On my head of many sorrows pour myrrh,
and o'er my hoary breast.
XXXVIII
a\\o (frvTevcrys irporepov
afJL7T€\Ct).
Plant no other tree before the vine.
99
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XXXIX
TWO, TOP %apievTa M.eva>va Kd\ea-<rcut
at %pr) (TVfjLTrocrias CTT ovaaiv e/u-ot yeyevrjaOai.
I pray that some one call in the charming
Menon if it be fitting that he be a delight to me
at the banquet.
XL
"AXXora fiev /LteXtaSeo?, aXXora
rpifidXcov apvrr)^evoL.
Drawing wine now as sweet as honey, now
more bitter than nettles.
XLI
KpovtSa /3ao-i\i)o<; 7^/05 Atav, TOZ^ apta-rov
Tpo'l'av TWV kavawv e\0efJLev. . . .)
(It is said that) Ajax of kingly birth, sprung
from Kronos, the greatest hero after Achilles
(went to Troy in the army of the Danaians).
100
SHORTER FRAGMENTS
XLII
. . . 'A^t'AAev, o 7a9 TLievdiicas peSeis.
Achilles, ruling in the land of Scythia.
XLIII
*E* Se
You drink from cups, sitting by the side of
Dinnomenes.
XLIV
\alpe Kal TTO)
Aevpo (7Vf
Drink and be glad, my friend. Come hither
and drink with me.
LOVE-SONGS
XLV
<5 <f)t\e iral, /cal a\dOea.
Wine, dear child, and Truth !
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XLVI
I fell by the hands of the Cyprus-born.
XLVII
KO'XTTG) <r* eB^gavr ayvai Xa/^re?, Kptvoi.
The tender Graces took thee up in their
bosom, O Lily.
POLEMICS
XLVIII
avepow a^Cfiavroi vrvdcu.
The stormless breathings of the gentle winds.
XLIX
. . . Faia9 teal vi(j>devTo<; wpdva)
Between the earth and the cloud-flecked
heavens.
SHORTER FRAGMENTS
L
MeXa7^/30? al'Sta? afto? et?
Melanchrus (in his actions) towards the City
was worthy of respect.
LI
Adfov re aeicov Kdpiicov.
Brandishing the Carian crest.
LII
OvSc 7TO) HocretSav
a\fjivpov eo-TV</>eXtf € TTOVTOV '
olov (irebov) 705 yap TreXerat crecov.
Not yet has Poseidon lashed into fury the
salty floods ; for then he comes upon the shore,
shaking the earth.
LIII
oy warr opviOes cS/cvv
aierov efaTTtVa? fydvevra.
They cowered as birds when the swift hawk
suddenly appears.
103
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
LIV
"A/oeu &u$oy3o9 Bcu'/CTrjp.
Ares foe-scattering, heart-cleaving.
LV
"A/36V05 (TTpaTKOTepOlS.
More valiant than Ares.
LVI
To yap
"Apevl /carOdvrjv ied\ov.
For it is noble to die in battle.
LVI I
M£faz> 5* eV aXXaXot? "Apeva.
But they fought hand to hand in battle.
HYMNS
LVI 1 1
O King Apollo, son of mighty Zeus.
104
SHORTER FRAGMENTS
LIX
. . . "00-re 6eo)v fjLrjSev 'OXu/u,7riW Xv&ai arep
So that not one of the Olympian gods except
him could loosen it.
LX
To yap 0ea>v Idrar vppe \a%dvrtov ye'pai
\rov
For that honour shall remain inviolate by the
will of those gods who have been made thy
protectors.
LXI
To S* epyov ayija'aiTO rea fcdpa.
Let thy daughter proceed in the work.
MISCELLANEOUS
LXI I
Kat 7rA,etoTOt9 edvaaae Xaot?.
And he was ruling many peoples.
105
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
LXIII
Hpcora jj,ev vAz>Taz>S/oo? AeXeyaw
First indeed Antandrus, city of the Leleges.
LXIV
Toy %d\ivov ap/cos eery.
You will be a protection to the unmixed wine.
LXV
B* eru^xao-', etc & eXero ^>peVa5.
He is altogether stupefied with vanity and
bereft of reason.
LXVI
K<au Tt? CTT* €a"%aTiai<riv ot/cet?.
And a certain one dwelling in most distant parts.
LXVI I
Mixed wheaten flour.
1 06
SHORTER FRAGMENTS
LXVIII
'il9 \dyos ex Trarepcov opcopev.
Thus has the tradition from our ancestors arisen.
LXIX
'E/-tauTO> 7ra\a/4a<70/Aat.
I will bring it about for myself.
LXX
"Or a<r<j> aTToXXuyu-eVot? c-aa>9.
As he will save them from destruction.
LXXI
OIKCO re irep <ro> /cal irep" cm/ua?.
Through you and through dishonour I exist.
LXXI I
Et? rwv SvotccuSe/ccov.
One of the twelve.
107
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
LXXIII
Kat K ovSev etc SeVo? yevotro.
And from nothing nothing comes.
LXXIV
At Be K apfu Zev? re\€<rrj vorjfia.
But if Zeus grant the fulfilment of our desires.
LXXV
. . . NoW B* eavrci)
TrdjjLirav aeppei.
He is thoroughly aroused in his mind.
LXXVI
KaTTtTrXeuo-T; vdecriv.
He will approach in ships.
LXXVI I
"A/Jifjiiv aOdvaroi Oeoi,
VIKCLV.
The immortal gods grant the victory to us.
1 08
SHORTER FRAGMENTS
LXXVIII
fM /cdfccas • oim yap ol <f>i\oi.
I am sorely grieved ; for friends by no means —
LXXIX
N0z> S' (aur') ovro? eTTt/cperei
Kivr)<Tai<s rov cnf t/oa? TTV/JLCLTOV \i6ov.
He now has the mastery, moving upon the
holy field the last stone.
LXXX
//i<£a*?, rat? A to? cf aiyio^co <j>at(ri rcrvy-
pevais.
Nymphs, descended, 't is said, from Zeus, the
aegis-bearing.
LXXXI
At yap Ka\\o6ev e\6rf rdSe, <f)ai /crjvoOev
For if one come from a certain place, he
declares that everything comes from there.
109
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
LXXXII
. . . 2i) Be cravTO) ro/u'a? ecrrj.
But you will be your own dispenser.
LXXXII I
(Wai? rot? TreXa? a/4/ueet)i> Trape^rjv.
Nor to bring sorrow upon our neighbours.
LXXXIV
Ov&e n ftvvdfjievos a\\vi TO vdrj/jia.
Nor the mind being shut up from other things.
LXXXV
'E/^a^uW • ov yap ava% (Setvore/JO? creOev).
Bacchus ; for there is no king (more powerful
than you).
LXXXVI
eacav
The Arcadians were chestnut-eaters,
no
SHORTER FRAGMENTS
LXXXVII
(Tai/raXo))
irep /ce<£aXa? /-leya?, <y At
A huge stone is poised above the head of
Tantalus, O Aisimides.
LXXXVII I
/> en, ivvofjievr), ro>
rappeva \dfji7rpa fceavr ev
Is it still pleasing, Dinnomenes ? are those
things meet and glorious in Pittacus as they
were in Myrsilus ?
LXXXIX
re /cal
Whosoever of you and of us are valiant.
xc
ev a-r^Oea-i cfrvei <j>d{3epo<;.
An affrighted roar bursts from the breast of
the stag.
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XCI
'E-TTt yap Tra/305 ovtapov iKvrjrai.
For before he comes upon what is pleasing
XCII
Hd\iv a £5 Trapopivei.
Again the sow stirs a little.
XCIII
'A.fJijJie<nv TreSdopov.
High in air above us.
XCIV
'A\\a <rauTft) fiere^oov a/3a9 TT/OO? Trdcriv.
But you went to your husband telling —
xcv
"£70) fjiev ov Beco ravra paprvpevvras.
I am indeed in no need of proof of these things.
SHORTER FRAGMENTS
XCVI
Kat ^iKV0iKai<> vTroBrja'djjievos.
And shod with Scythian shoes.
XCVI I
'ATT Trarepcov /ta$o5.
Learning from the elders.
XCVIII
Of our fathers.
Of our sorrows.
XCIX
"E/8/D09 tfa
Hebrus most beautiful of rivers.
113
THE SONGS OF ALCAEU&
c
«: ro
Sending forth arrows out of the darkness.
CI
At Br) fjLav ^epaSo? fir) /3eySaa)9
\(9ov
Kivrjis, /cat KG picrws rav tce<f>d\av apya\iav
Unless you carefully remove from the rubble
the stone which is to be worked, it will prob-
ably fare ill with your head.
NOTES
NOTES
I (45). / feel the coming of the flowery spring*
Quickly mix in the bowl the honey-sweet wine.
Quickly, quickly mix for me up
Honeyed wine in a beaker cup ;
Quickly, quickly, that I may sing
The joyous coming of flowery spring.
— JOHN MORETON WALHOUSE.
I breathed the coming of the flowery spring.
— FREDERICK TENNYSON.
Quoted by Athenaeus, X, 430. The metre is
choreic, consisting of an initial trochee or spondee,
four dactyls, and a final trochee — very nearly a hex-
ameter dactyl catalectic or heroic : —
\D ww \j \s ww ww w
In the metrical translation I have joined this with
the next succeeding fragment, though they are from
different songs.
II (36). But let some one place about my throat
necklaces of anise, woven garlands, and pour sweet per-
fumes over my breast.
Quoted by Athenaeus, lines 1-2 in XV, 674, and
3-4 in XV, 687, and rightly joined by Hartung,
Bergk, and others. The metre is Sapphic : —
— w — w w — \J —
117
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
Cf. Horace, Carm. II, 7 : —
Obliviosa levia Massico
Ciboria exple, funde capacibus
Unguenta de conchis. Quis udo
Deproperare apio coronas
Curatve myrto ?
Ill (39). Moisten your throats with wine, for the
dog-star is risen, and this is the oppressive season when
everything thirsts under the burning heat. The cicada
sings pleasantly, sending forth his clear-toned song from
among the thick leaves. The artichoke blooms where
the sun, beating down upon the fields, lets fall spread-
ing, blazing rays. And now are women most amor-
ous, but the men languid, for Sinus parches both head
and legs.
Glad your hearts with rosy wine,
Now the dog-star takes his round.
Sultry hours to sleep incline,
Gapes with heat the sultry ground.
Crickets sing on leafy boughs,
And the thistle is in flower,
And men forget the sober vows
They made to the moon in some colder hour.
— J. H. MERIVALE.
Wet thy lungs with wine, for the dog-star rides on high ;
Oppressive is the season — all things are parched and dry j
'Mid the leaves the shrill cicada its song so thin and quick,
Pours out beneath its wings, and bloom the thistles red and thick.
— J. M. WALHOUSE.
This song is made up of fragments quoted by various
authors and joined by Matthiae, Hartung, Bergk, and
others. Line I, part of 2, and 3, 6, 7, and 8 are
preserved in Proclus on Hesiod, Works, 584 ; i and 2
are quoted by Athenaeus, X, 430 ; part of 3, and 4-5,
are quoted by Demetrius, de Eloc. 142. The verses
118
NOTES
all belong, without doubt, to one song. The metre
is choriambic, the asclepiadeum secundum as used by
Horace, Carm. I, 1 1 , etc.
Cf. Horace, Gznw. Ill, 29, 18 :-
Jam Procyon furit
Et stella versani Leonis
Sole dies referente siccos.
The song is a close imitation of the following passage
in Hesiod's Works and Days, 582 seq. : —
LbraraL T alyes noil olvos dpt<rros,
Ma7\6raTat 5^ yvvaiices, a^avpdraTOi 8t re AvSpes
Wtfflv, tirel K€<j)a\r)i> Ka.1 yotivara Se/pios (Sfet,
A^aX^os 5^ re x/xi>s u;r6 /catJ/iaTos • dXXd r6r' r/Sr)
T&ti) irerpairj re cndi) Ka.1 B/^Xti/os olvos.
When the green artichoke ascending flowers,
When, in the sultry season's toilsome hours,
Perch' d on a branch, beneath his veiling wings
The loud cicada shrill and frequent sings :
Then the plump goat a savoury food bestows,
The poignant wine in mellowest flavour flows :
Wanton the blood then bounds in women's veins,
But weak of man the heat-enfeebled reins :
Full on his brain descends the solar flame,
Unnerves the languid knees, and all the frame
Exhaustion dries away : oh then be thine
To sit in shade of rocks, with Biblyan wine.
— SIR CHARLES ABRAHAM ELTON.
IV (40). Let us drink, for the dog-star is risen.
Quoted by Athenaeus, I, 22. The metre is chori-
ambic.
119
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
V (61). The flower of gentle autumn.
Quoted by Cramer, An. Ox. I, 413, 23. My
verses are a paraphrase built upon this fragment and
the two immediately following.
VI (53). For wine is a mirror to men.
From Isaac Tzetzes, ad Lycophronem, V, 212.
The metre is the third verse of an Alcaic stanza. Cf.
Horace, Carm. Ill, 21, 14: —
Tu sapientum
Curas et arcanum jocoso
Consilium retegio Lyaeo.
Cf. Theognis, 500 : —
avSpbs 8' olvos £5ei£e v6ov.
VII (43). Drops of wine fly out of the Teian
goblets.
Quoted by Athenaeus, XI, 48 1 (who says it is from
the Tenth Book), to prove that the cups of Teos were
very beautiful.
VIII (34). Zeus indeed sends bail. And a great
winter storm is in the sky. The streams freeze.
(And now the hoary sea and the thick forest roar with
the Thracian north wind.} But drive away the
winter , heaping up the flre, mixing lavishly the tawny
wine, and binding about thy temples soft fleeces.
Jove descends in sleet and snow,
Howls the vexed and angry deep ;
Every stream forgets to flow,
Bound in winter's icy sleep.
Ocean wave and forest hoar
To the blast responsive roar.
120
NOTES
Drive the tempest from your door,
Blaze on blaze your hearthstone piling,
And unmeasured goblets pour
Brimful, high with nectar smiling.
Then beneath your poet's head
Be a downy pillow spread. — J. H. MERIVALE.
Zeus pours the rain-floods, o'er the sky,
Lowering tempests howling fly,
The streams with icy chains are bound.
Beat back the winter, — heap the fire, —
Let the sweet wine mantle higher,
Wrap mufflers soft each head around.
— J. M. WALHOUSE.
IN ALCAIC METRE
Drive out the winter, piling up plentiful
Firewood, and mingling cups of the honey-wine
Freely, while upon our foreheads
Sprays of the winter-green thus we fasten.
— SIR EDWIN ARNOLD.
The rain of Zeus descends, and from high heaven
A storm is driven :
And on the running water-brooks the cold
Lays icy hold ;
Then up ! beat down the winter ; make the fire
Blaze high and higher j
Mix wine as sweet as honey of the bee
Abundantly 5
Then drink, with comfortable wool around
Your temples bound.
— JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS.
Now winter nights enlarge
The number of their hours j
And clouds their storms discharge
Upon the airy towers.
Let now the chimneys blaze
And cups o'erflow with wine.
— THOMAS CAMPION.
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
Lines 1-2 and 5-8 are quoted by Athenaeus, X,
430. Lines 3 and 4 are purely conjectural restora-
tions by G. F. Grotefend, based on Horace's Epode,
1 3 . This and the following fragment have been freely
imitated by Horace in Carm. I, 9, and Epod. 13,
q.v. It is probable that this fragment and No. ix are
from the same song, though the manner in which they
are quoted by Athenaeus would indicate otherwise.
I have joined them in the verse translation, as did
Mr. Symonds. In discussing this fragment and the
relative merits of Alcaeus and Horace, Jani very truly
says : "In Horatiana pictura stant et quiescunt omnia,
ac velut in stupore jacent ; in Alcaei descriptione motus
atque tumultus est, et hactenus plus ea vigoris habet,"
etc. The metre is Alcaic, for scheme of which see
page 32, ante.
IX (35). It is not fitting to yield one's heart to
sorrow, for nothing is gained by grief. O Bacchus !
bring wine, and drunkenness, the best of balms.
To be bowed by grief is folly,
Naught is gained by melancholy,
Better than the pain of thinking
Is to steep the sense in drinking.
— J. H. MERIVALE.
We must not yield our hearts to woe, or wear
With wasting care ;
For grief will profit us no whit, my friend,
Nor nothing mend j
But this is our best medicine, with wine fraught,
To cast out thought. — J. A. SYMONDS.
(Conclusion of Mr. Symonds' poem quoted in the
preceding note. )
Quoted by Athenaeus, X, 430. See note to viii.
The metre is Alcaic. Cf. Horace, Carm. I, 18.
NOTES
X (B. 41, H. 41). Let us drink! Why do we
await the lights ? Day is but a span. Boy, bring the
capacious and many-coloured cups. For the son of
Semele and Zeus gave to us men care-dispelling wine.
Pour it out, mixing one of water with two of wine in
full cups, and let one cup chase the other headlong.
Why wait we for the torches' lights ?
Now let us drink while day invites.
In mighty flagons hither bring
The deep-red blood of many a vine,
That we may largely quaff, and sing
The praises of the god of wine,
The son of Jove and Semele
Who gave the jocund wine to be
A sweet oblivion to our woes.
Fill, fill the goblet, one and twoj
Let every brimmer, as it flows,
In sportive chase the last pursue.
— J. H. MERIVALE.
Drink ! for lamps why are we staying ? let the finger serve for day,
Bring me, boy, the bowl capacious — all the various cups display.
To us mortals mighty Bacchus, son of Zeus and Semele,
Gave bright wine, the care-dispeller 5 one and two now mix for me —
Mingle — to the brim, fill upwards — and as cups we drain apace,
Every fresh one its foregoer's mounting fumes away shall chase.
— J. M. WALHOUSE.
The text is Hoffmann's, varying slightly from Bergk's
and Farnell's. Quoted by Athenaeus, X, 430, and XI,
48 1 . The metre is choriambic ; see note on iii. Cf.
Horace, Carm. Ill, 19, and Carm. Ill, 21.
XI (50). Me thinks a man is happiest when drink-
ing. But if too much of mellow wine overmaster his
mind he is twice wretched. For he becomes heavy-
headed ; and then vainly searching and demanding of
himself the cause of his misery, he is disgusted with
123
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
bis levity, and no longer does it please him to carouse.
Drink, friend, drink !
Preserved in a fragmentary condition in Demetrius,
Trepi 7roo//AaTo)v, Vol. Her cut. Ox. I, 122, and restored
to its present form by Bergk. A considerable portion
of the restoration is conjectural, and no two editors
agree. The interpretation is difficult, and I have, in-
stead of adhering to a literal translation, endeavoured
to express the evident meaning intended to be con-
veyed. For the metre, see note on/r. xix.
XII (55). Violet-crowned, pure, sweetly-smiling
Sappho, I wish to say something, but shame hinders me.
[SAPPHO (Bergk, 28) : But if thou hadst felt
desire for good or noble things, and if thy tongue had
not been about to utter some evil speech, shame would
not have jilled thine eyes, but thou wouldst have spoken
fairly about /'/.]
ALCAEUS. In vain would passion prompt my tongue to say
That which respect for Sappho must delay,
And shame the courage of desire away.
SAPPHO. At this confession I am sorely griev'd,
Nor could desires like thine have e'er believ'd ;
For, if legitimate, uncharg'd with crime,
They spurn alike both circumstance and time :
Nor would thine eyes thus downward now be bent^
But by the conscience of some bad intent.
— DANIEL MICHAEL CRIMMINS (1811).
ALCAEUS. I fain would speak, I fain would tell,
But shame and fear my utterance quell.
SAPPHO. If aught of good, if aught of fair,
Thy tongue were labouring to declare,
Nor shame should dash thy glance, nor fear
Forbid thy suit to reach my ear.
— ANONYMOUS. (Edin. Rev., 1832, p. 190.)
124
NO TES
I would tell thee something
But cannot speak for shame.
If honour to thy heart were dear,
And thy speech not prone to wrong,
Shame would not veil thine eyes, thy tongue
Would utter lawful things that I might hear.
— F. TENNYSON.
Line I is quoted by Hephaestion, 80 ; line 2 by Aris-
totle, Rhetoric, I, 9, where he also quotes the lines from
Sappho. The two lines have been joined by Bergk
and others. The metre is Sapphic with anacrusis : — •
\D • — w — w — ww — w — w
Sappho's reply is in Alcaics. Stephanus of Byzan-
tium, Anna Comnena, and some modern critics as-
cribe this fragment to Sappho, See p. 20, ante.
XIII (59). O miserable me ! 4 las for me, hav-
ing a part in all the worst misfortunes !
Ah ! me forlorn ! ah ! doom'd to share
Every sorrow, pain, and care. — F. TENNYSON.
Quoted by Hephaestion, 66, describing the Ionic
a minore verse frequently used by Alcaeus, of which
this is the sole specimen in his remains : —
ww \j\j ww \j\j
The ode, of which this is the first line, is imitated in
metre and probably in sense by Horace, Carm. Ill, 1 2 : —
Miserarum est neque amori dare ludum neque dulci, etc.
My verses are a paraphrase, built upon this and the
two succeeding fragments and the following reference in
Horace, Carm. II, 13: —
Alcee, plectro dura navis,
Dura fugae mala, dura bella.
XIV (56). Receive me, receive the merry-maker,
I pray thee, I pray !
1*5
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
Quoted by Hephaestion, 30, and by others. It is
a fragment of a Comus-song, or serenade, probably ad-
dressed to Sappho. (See pp. 1 9-20, ante. ) The metre
is trochaic tetrameter catalectic, with anacrusis : —
w : — \j — \j — w — w _ w _ \j _ w _
XV (95). Ton will make me forget the pain.
Quoted by Hephaestion, 15. The metre is trochaic
dimeter catalectic, as used by Horace, Carm. II, 1 8 : —
— w — \j — \j i^
XVI (58). My muse is no longer concerned with
Lycus.
Quoted by the Scholiast on Pindar, O/. X, 15.
The metre is choriambic : —
Cf. Horace, Carm. I, 32: —
Puerum canebat
Et Lycum nigris oculis nigroque
Crine decorum.
Cf. Cicero, de nat. Deor. I, 28 : —
Naevus in articulo pueri delectabat Alcaeum.
My verses are a paraphrase built upon this and the
succeeding fragment, and the references in Horace and
Cicero.
XVII (63). Sing to me of the violet-girdled one.
Quoted by Apollonius, de Pron. 384 B. The metre
is Alcaic. See notes on xii and xvi.
XVIII (33). Thou earnest from the ends of earth
bearing a sword with ivory hilt inlaid with gold. For,
aiding the Babylonians, you achieved a mighty deed,
freeing them from dangers. For you killed a mighty
warrior who lacked of jive royal cubits only a span.
126
NOTES
From the ends of the earth thou art come
Back to thy home ;
The ivory hilt of thy blade
With gold is embossed and inlaid ;
Since for Babylon's host a great deed
Thou didst work in their need,
Slaying a warrior, an athlete of might,
Royal, whose height
Lacked of five cubits one span,
A terrible man. — J. A. SYMONDS.
Holding in thy hand
An ivory-hilted brand
Inlaid with gold,
Fair to behold,
Thou comest back from a far-distant land.
— F. TENNYSON.
Lines 1—2 are quoted by Hephaestion, 58, lines 3—4
are restored by Bergk, and lines 5—7 by O. Muller
(accepted by Bergk), out of Strabo, XIII, 617, who
says : Mitylene produced illustrious men, such as Pit-
tacus one of the Seven Sages, and Alcaeus the poet,
and bis brother Antimenidas, who, as Alcaeus says,
went to the aid of the Babylonians and achieved a
great deed, and rescued them from difficulties, killing
a warrior, a rival of kings, as he says, lacking scarcely
a span of jive cubits.
(Five royal cubits, less a span, are about eight feet
and four inches.)
Concerning this mention of Antimenidas, Hartung
says : " If Alcaeus himself, in his homeless wanderings,
reached Egypt (where he never forgot either his hatred
or his love, and occupied every moment with poesy),
it is quite possible that his brother roamed as far as
Assyria, for the Babylonians could well employ, at that
time, brave warriors. About Olympiad 43, Nebuchad-
127
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
nezzar won the battle of Karchemish ; Ol. 45-48,
he besieged Tyre ; Ol. 44, 3, or 47, 3, he conquered
Judaea and burned the temple at Jerusalem. Ol. 43,
3, Nineveh was conquered by Cyaxares and the
Babylonians.'*
This poem does not belong, strictly, among the
Stasiotica or seditious pieces, but has been so placed
by most editors. The metre is choriambic trimeter
acatalectic, the aesclepiadeum primum of Horace, Carm.
I, i, etc: —
The frequently recurring rhyme is noticeable in this
fragment.
XIX (15). The great house gleams with brass,
and the whole roof is decked in honour of Ares with
brilliant helmets, and the white horsehair crests wave
from above, jit ornaments for manly brows. And
shining brazen greaves are hanging 'round on hidden
pegs, sure defence against the darts ; and there are
breastplates of new linen, and captured hollow shields.
Near by are Chalchidian broad-swords ; besides many
belts and doublets. These things should not be for-
gotten, for omitting all else we undertake this warlike
work.
Glitters with brass my mansion wide,
The roof is decked on every side
In martial pride ;
With helmets ranged in order bright
And plumes of horse-hair nodding white
A gallant sight —
Fit ornament for warrior's brow —
And 'round the walls in goodly row
Refulgent glow
128
NOTES
Stout greaves of brass like burnished gold,
And corselets there in many a fold
Of linen rolled ;
And shields that in the battle fray
The routed losers of the day
Have cast away.
Euboean falchions too are seen,
With rich embroidered belts between
Of dazzling sheen ;
And gaudy surcoats piled around,
And spoils of chiefs in war renowned
May there be found.
These, and all else that here you see
Are fruits of glorious victory
Achieved by me. — J. H. MERIVALE.
From floor to roof the spacious palace halls
Glitter with war's array ;
With burnished metal clad, the lofty walls
Beam like the bright noonday.
There white-plumed helmets hang from many a nail,
Above, in threatening row ;
Steel garnished tunics, and broad coats of mail
Spread o'er the place below.
Chalchidian blades enow, and belts are here,
Greaves and emblazoned shields ;
Well tried protectors from the hostile spear 5
On other battle-fields ;
With these good helps our work of war 's begun,
With these our victory must be won.
— WILLIAM MITRE.
The sheen of brazen armour
Lights all the spacious hall,
And warlike arms and trophies
Hang high on every wall. — F. TENNYSON.
This song, the only poem of Alcaeus preserved in
its entirety, is quoted by Athenaeus, XIV, 627, who
says : « ' Music was formerly an exhortation to courage,
and accordingly Alcaeus the Poet, one of the greatest
129
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
musicians that ever lived, places valour and manliness
before skill in music and poetry, being himself a man
that was warlike even beyond what was necessary.
Wherefore in such verses as these he speaks in exalted
language, and says : ' The great house gleams with
brass,' and so forth ; although it would have been
more suitable for him to have had his house well stored
with musical instruments."
It is a question among the editors whether this poem
is to be considered as referring to internal or external
war, though the early grammarians placed it among the
Stasiotica, or seditious poems. The metre has been
discussed at length by Jani, Matthiae, Farnell, and
others. It is Gly conic, each line being a "system"
consisting of three cola, of which the first and second
are Glyconic verses and the third an iambic dipody : —
Hartung, following this division, has printed each line
of our text as three lines. The frequent rhyme is
noticeable in this song.
XX ( 1 8 ) . I do not understand the condition of the
winds, for now from this side, now from that, the
waves approach, and we between them are hurled about
in the black ship, and struggle bard with the storm.
The water pours in through the stepping-hole. Already
great rents are in the sail — and now it is torn in tat-
ters. The anchors loose their hold.
Now here, now there the wild waves sweep,
Whilst we, betwixt them o'er the deep
In shattered, tempest-beaten bark
With labouring ropes along are driven,
130
NOTES
The billows dashing o'er our dark
Upheaved deck — in tatters riven
Our sails — whose yawning rents between
The raging sea and sky are seen.
********
Loose from their hold our anchors burst,
And then the third, the fatal wave,
Comes rolling onward like the first,
And doubles all our toil to save.
— J. H. MERIVALE.
The wind's wild strife confounds my brain —
One furious wave, lo, hither hurled,
Another there contending whirled !
And we amid the tempest's strain
Drive in the ship before the blast,
While snap the ropes and cracks the mast.
The sails, now almost worn away,
Rents long and wide throughout display :
The anchors fail. Fierce as the first
Another wave hath o'er us burst,
And hard the toil and sore the pain
To bail the water out again. — J. M. WALHOUSE.
On either hand the rolling waters throng,
We thro' the midst are darkly borne along.
— F. TENNYSON.
Quoted by Heraclides, Alleg. Horn., c. 5, who ex-
plains that it is an allegory, wherein the condition of the
State, under the tyrant Myrsilus, is likened to a storm-
tossed ship. This poem is closely imitated by Horace,
Carm. I, 14 : —
O navis, referunt in mare te novi
Fluctus, etc.,
and is the foundation of the many allegories in various
languages wherein the State is likened to a ship. Cf.
Theognis, 671 seq., Pindar, Pytb., I. 86, 4. 274.
131
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
The allegory is also used in many places by the Greek
tragedians, and by Plato and Cicero. The text is
Bergk's, with the exception that I have followed Far-
nell and other editors in reading ay/cv/ocu instead of
ayicoivai. Ursinus, Blomfield, and Gaisford join this
with/r. xxi, though Heraclides, in quoting the latter,
says that it is from another poem : erepwfli TTOV Aeyai.
Yet both fragments refer to the State under Myrsilus ;
and in the metrical translation I have joined them, as
have Merivale and Walhouse. The metre is Alcaic.
XXI (19). And now a wave greater than the
former comes and brings great distress to us when the
ship plunges into the sea.
Wave following wave, each like to each,
Rolls over us, and more and more
To bail out the flood
Will tax us sore. — F. TENNYSON.
Quoted by Heraclides. See note on xx. The
metre is Alcaic.
XXII (23). Fighting men are the city* s fortress.
(For translation of prose fragment, see page 38,
ante. )
The fragment is quoted by the Scholiast on Aeschy-
lus, Pers. 347 ; the prose in brackets occurs in Aris-
tides, II, 273, as follows: —
M6ws 84 fjuot SoKeT TT&VTUV &vdp(l)TT(i>v rj KOfuSfj ye ii> 6\i-
yois Setfeu Qc/nwrTO/cX^s a\i)0r) rbv \6yov flira, ov TrdAcu ^v
AXxotos 6 ironr)TT)s ciirev, vyrepov 8£ ol TroXXoi 7ro/>oXajS6»'Tes
O a?s &pa ov \L6oi K.r.X.
(For translation of Aristides' remark, see page 38,
ante. )
NOTES
While we have not the exact words, we have here
the sense of what was one of Alcaeus' greatest, and, in
ancient times, most famous, songs. Hartung, treating
the fragment, has joined with it another fragment pre-
served in Hesychius (Bergk, 153), thus: —
ir\lv6b}v
dXX' &v5pes TrJXtos Trtipyos dpevioL.
Fourfold walls of brick are erected, but fighting
men are the city1 s fortress.
In the verse translation I have followed the excerpt
from Aristides. This fragment was the inspiration of
Sir William Jones' magnificent ode, The State, the
beginning of which is quoted on page 38, ante.
XXIII (32). Alcaeus is safe from Ares, but not
bis arms ; the Attics hung up his sounding shield in
the sacred temple at Glaukopis.
Restored by Bergk from Strabo, XIII, 600, and-
Herodotus, V, 95. The poem, of which this is a
fragment, said by Herodotus to have been sent by
Alcaeus to his friend Melanippus, commemorates the
escape of Alcaeus from the battle of Sigeum. Strabo
says that Alcaeus in this poem related not only his
escape, but the duel between Pittacus and Phrynon.
Cf. Horace, Carm. II, 7, on his own escape from
Philippi, and Archilochus and Anacreon, quoted on
page 12, ante. The metre is modelled on Archilo-
chus, and consists of a hexameter heroic and a dactylic
trimeter catalectic, used alternately as in Horace, Carm.
IV, 7. As pointed out by Bergk, the spondees in the
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
first foot of line i, and fifth of line 2, are permissible
on account of the proper names : —
XXIV (37 A). The crowds with acclamations of
praise established this low-born Pittacus tyrant over
the distracted and unfortunate city.
Quoted by Aristotle, Polit. Ill, 9, 5, who says
that the Mityleneans elected Pittacus against the exiles,
of whom Antimenidas and Alcaeus were the chiefs,
and that in this song Alcaeus reproves them. The
metre is choriambic. See note on iii. From various
authors we learn that Alcaeus applied many opprobri-
ous epithets to Pittacus, among them : o-apaTroSa or
crdparrov = "Drag-foot"; xipa-rrofyv = "Split-foot";
X^poTroBrjv = "Hand-footed"; yavpiKa = "Swag-
gerer " ; <^va-K(ova = " Thick-bellied "; y&a-Tpwa =
" Oily-bellied " ; £0<£o8op7riSai/ (crKOTO(Wi/cH/) =
« ' Corner-kisser ' ' ; dycurvpTov = * ' Dirty Fellow ' ' ;
etc.
XXV (25). This man, raving, a great power,
will quickly overthrow the State. Already he is upon
the brink of ruin.
Used against Cleon by Aristophanes, Wasps, 1234,
whose Scholiast says it is from Alcaeus. The metre
is dactylic : —
XXVI (B. 20, H. 36). Now it behooves us to
carouse, and to stamp the earth forcefully, for Myr-
silus is dead.
NOTES
Now is our time to drink, and tread
The joyous dance, — since Myrsilus is dead.
J. H. MZRIVALE.
'T is time to hand the cup around,
To sing, to dance, to shake the ground,
For Myrsilus is dead ! — F. TENNYSON.
Quoted by Athenaeus, X, 430. I have followed
Hartung's text (see Bergk, 20 ; Hartung, 36 ; and
Farnell, XIX). The metre is Alcaic. Imitated in
sense and metre by Horace, in his song on the death
of Cleopatra, Carm. I, 37: —
Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero
Pulsanda tellus.
XXVII (B. 9 and 66, H. 10-12). O Queen
Athena, mistress of war, O tboti who guardest the
temple yonder beneath steep-rocked Coronea on the banks
of the river Coralio. O Queen, perchance thou hov-
er est over the fortress of the armies of divided men.
Lines 1—4 are restored from Strabo, IX, 411, and
lines 5—6 from Hesychius, 'ETriTrveixov, by Bergk,
Hartung, and others. Hartung joins them and argues
that they belong to the same hymn, and the text is
his, differing little from Bergk' s in 1—4, but consider-
ably in 5—6. The metre is Alcaic, a reproduction of
which I have attempted. Strabo says that Alcaeus
incorrectly named the river KoopoAio?, the true name
being Kovaptos.
XXVIII (B. 5, F. XXIII). Hail! Ruler of
Cyllene ! Of thee will I sing, whom Maia on the
loftiest summits conceived of the son of Cronos.
Quoted by Hephaestion, 79. The text is Farnell' s,
differing slightly from Bergk' s. Pausanias says that in
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
this hymn Alcaeus related how Hermes stole the cattle
of Apollo ; Menander says that the birth of Hermes
was related ; and Athenaeus says that in it Hermes
was made cup-bearer to the gods. The metre is
Sapphic, which I have attempted to reproduce. Cf.
Horace, Carm. I, 10, which is doubtless a close
imitation.
XXIX (13 B.). The neatly-shod Iris conceived
this powerful god by intercourse with the golden-haired
Zephyr.
Of all the gods is Love most dread,
Albeit born the child, 't is said,
Of delicate-sandalled Iris fair,
And Zephyr of the golden hair.
— J. M. WALHOUSE.
Quoted by Plutarch, Amator., c. 20, and referred
to in Etym. Gud. 278, 17. It is a fragment of an
Alcaic verse.
XXX (49). // is said that once in Sparta, Aris-
todemus uttered a not unwise saying: "Money makes
the man." For the pauper is neither brave nor
This truth the sage of Sparta told,
Aristodemus old —
" Wealth makes the man." On him that 's poor
Proud worth looks down, and honour shuts the door.
— J. H. MERIVALE.
I 've heard that one in Sparta bred,
So the story ran,
The wise Aristodemus said
"'T is money makes the man."
— F. TENNYSON.
136
NOTES
Quoted by the Scholiast on Pindar, Istbm. II, 17.
The metre is Glyconic. See note on xix. The regu-
lar recurrence of rhymes in each line of this fragment is
striking. A Spartan Aristodemus has been placed by
some writers among the Seven Sages.
XXXI (92). A grievous affliction is Poverty, in-
supportable, who, with her, sister. Want, greatly
oppresses the people.
The worst of ills and hardest to endure,
Past hope, past cure,
Is Penury, who with her sister-mate
Disorder, soon brings down the loftiest state,
And makes it desolate. — J. H. MERIVALE.
From Stoboeus, XCVI, 17. The metre is dactylic
hexameter.
XXXII (B. 1 08, H. 91). For neither man nor
woman may Jlee from longing desires.
From Plutarch, de divitiar. am. c. 5 : —
«ip &fjM rats ijSova.'is <rvv€K\nreiv T&S
fji^re & vd pa <f>r}fflv 'AX/ccuos 5ia<f)vyciv /i^r
Reconstructed by Hartung, whose text I follow.
The verse translation is of the whole excerpt from
Plutarch.
XXXIII (84). What manner of birds are these
from the ocearf s edge ? flying with widespread wings
and brilliant-plumage d throats.
Quoted by the Scholiast on Aristophanes, Av. 1410.
The metre is choriambic. See note on iii.
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XXXIV (51). O born of the rocks and the boary
sea / . . . Thou delightest the heart of the boy, O
cockle from the sea !
The beginning and ending of a song, quoted by
Athenaeus, III, 85 F.
XXXV (83). If you speak whatever you please, you
must yourself hear what does not please you.
From Proclus on Hesiod, Opera, 719. Metre
choriambic. An imitation of Hesiod, W. and D.
721 : —
The evil speaker shall perpetual fear
Return of evil ringing in his ear. — ELTON.
XXXVI (38). Hephaestion, 63.
XXXVII (42). Plutarch, Sympos. Ill, 13. Metre
choriambic. Cf. Horace, Epod. 13, 8: —
Nunc et Achaemenio
Perfimdi nardo juvat et fide Cyllenae
Levare diris pectora sollicitudinibus.
XXXVIII (44). Athenaeus, X, 430 C. Metre
choriambic. Cf. Horace, Carm. I, 1 8 : —
Nullam, Vare, sacra vite prius arborem —
an imitation in sense and metre.
XXXIX (46). Hephaest. 41. Dactylic hex-
ameter. A rhymed couplet ?
XL (47). Athen. II, 38 E. Dactylic.
XLI (48 A.). Hephaest. 61. Choriambic.
XLII (48 B.). Eustathius, ad Dionys. Per. 306.
XLIII (52). Athen. XI, 460 D.
138
NOTES
XLIV (54 A.B.). Etymologicum Magnum, 689,
5'-
XLV (57). Schol. Plat. 377, who says that this
is the beginning of a song of Alcaeus and of one of
Theocritus. The metre is dactylic : —
w \j\j \j\j w v
Cf. Theocritus, XXIX, i : —
Olyos, w 0fXe TTCU, X^ycrat, /cai dX<£0ea •
" Wine" dear youth, " and truth," is the saying.
See notes of Matthiae (xxxvii) and Hartung (86),
who argue that this idyll is improperly ascribed to
Theocritus. It is in Aeolic metre, Aeolic forms and
dialect are used, and it is clearly an imitation of Alcaeus.
XLVI (60). Cramer, Anecd. Oxon. I, 144, 6.
XLVII (62). Hephaest. 59, as an example of
metre : —
\3 '• w w ww w
Cf. Theoc. XVII, 36: —
TSs ntv Ktirpov ^x°l<ra Aic^as Trdrvta Kujpa
K6\7rov eseuwSTj padivas ^tre/xd^aro xe?/>as.
Upon whose fragrant bosom, indeed, the lady daughter of Dione,
'who occupies Cyprus, impressed her slender bands.
XLVIII(i6). Eustath. Schol. //. ©178. Metre
Ionic.
XLIX (17). Apollonius, de Adv. in Bekk. An. II,
613, 36. Ionic.
L (21). Hephaest. 79. Evidently said of Me-
lanchrus as compared with later and more offensive
tyrants.
139
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
LI (22). Strabo, XIV, 66 1, speaking of insignia of
war.
LII (26). Lines 1—2, Herodianus, Tre/ot /xov. A.e£.
10, 25 ; line 3, £/. Flor. Miller, Misc. 264.
LIII (27). Herod. Trept /xov. Ae£ 23,9.
LIV (28). Cram. An. Ox. Ill, 237, i.
LV (29). Choerobosc. Epim. I, 210.
LVI (30). Ib. loc. cit. Cf. Horace, Carm. Ill,
2, 13.
LVII (31). Ib. I.e.
LVIII (i). Quoted by Hephaestion, as from the
first Ode of the First Book. Himerius, Or. XIV,
i o, gives the theme of this Paean, as he calls it.
LIX (n). Apollon. Dysc. de pron. 358 B.
LX (13 A.). Ib. de pron. 387 B.
LXI (14). Ib. 395 A. Portion of a hymn to
Zeus.
LXII (64). Et. Gud. 162, 31.
LXIII (65). Strabo, XIV, 606.
LXIV (67). Cram. An. Paris. IV, 61, 13.
LXV (68). Harpocration, 175, 15.
LXVI (69). Hephaest. 43.
LXVII (70). Photius, 244, ii. Cf. Theocritus,
XV, 1 1 6.
LXVIII (71). Comment ar. in. Arat. ap. Iriart.
p. 239.
LXIX (72). Apollon. de pron. 363 A.
LXX (73). Ib. 388 B.
140
NOTES
LXXI (74). Ib. 395 A. The interpretation is
difficult. The fragment was probably addressed to
Pittacus after he pardoned and released the poet.
LXXII (75). Et. Mag. 290, 47.
LXXIII (76). Ib. 639, 31.
LXXIV (77). Apollon. de pron. 384 B.
LXXV (78). Ib. 363 A.
LXXVI (79). Cram. An. Ox. I, 298, 17.
LXXVII (80). Apollon. de pron. 384 B.
LXXVIII (8 1). Et Mag. 1 88, 44.
LXXIX (82). Eustath. //. 633, 61.
LXXX (85). Hephaest. 60.
LXXXI (86). Herod. 7repvt pvv. A.e£ 27, 7.
LXXXII (87). Apollon. de pron. 363 B.
LXXXIII (88). Ib. 381 C.
LXXXIV (89). Schol. Homer, Odyss. £71.
LXXXV (B. 90, H. 90). Cram. An. Ox. Ill,
121. The text is Hoffmann's.
LXXXVI (91). Artemidorus, ovei'p. II, 25.
LXXXVII (93). Schol. Pindar, Ol. I, 97.
LXXXVIII (94). Hephaest. 90. A rhymed
couplet ?
LXXXIX (96). Apollon. de pron. 382 B.
XC (97). Schol. Soph. Oed. Reg. 156.
XCI (98). Herod. Trf.pl /xov. Ae£. 35, 32.
XCII (99). Paroemiogr. T. II, 765 Ed. Goth.
XCIII (100). Apollon. de pron. 383 C.
XCIV (101). Ib. 363 B.
141
THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
XCV (102). Et Mag. 264, 17.
XCVI (103). Harpocrat. 168.
XCVII (104). Herod. Trept /xoi/. Ae£ 36, 15.
XCVIII (105). Apollon. Dysc. de pron. 381 C.
XCIX (109). Schol. Theoc. VII, 112. Cf.
Theocritus, I.e.
C (112). Aristides, T. II, 155.
CI (H. 86 B.). Schol. //. $ 319 (Scolies Gene-
voises de 1'Iliade, J. Nicole, Geneva, 1891, I, 203).
Published by Hoffmann as 86 B.; not known to
Bergk.
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THE SONGS OF ALCAEUS
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